Parallel
by Zilo Sugarpill
Summary: You’d think a small town girl like Winry would have an adventure just going to the big city. But the fun’s just getting started. There’s a side to Central few people know about. A whole other world, in fact. And the two sides are about to collide.
1. First Day

**Warning!** T for violence, language, and so on.

**Story Content:** Eventual EdxWin (probably, but not written in stone). Creative licensing on Ed's person. Winry's a tad OOC, but not too terribly.

**Written By:** Zilo

**Beta:** Maruka Gomez (AKA Captain Mama)

* * *

Zilo don't own FMA, isn't that freaking great for you? You know if it were mine, things would be a LOT worse. And everyone would wear glasses, instead of just the nerdy people. Envy in glasses? Yay!

* * *

_Dear Grandma:_

_I thought you'd like to know I made it safely to Central. The train ride was kind of long and boring, but luckily I had my latest project to occupy the time. Once it's finished, I'll be sure to send you a picture._

_I didn't have any trouble at the train station, except for one man trying to steal my bag. A taste of my wrench fixed him, though I did get several strange looks after that. Maybe it was me bashing the guy in the face with my wrench. Well, what do they expect? Me to just stand helplessly by while the jerk takes my stuff? They must be crazy; my things are WAY too valuable._

_Anyway, after that I didn't have much trouble at the baggage claim. There were a lot of people all around, but it wasn't too scary. They bumped and pushed a lot, so I bumped and pushed back. I'm telling you, Grandma, I'll be able to handle myself in the city before you know it!_

_When I finally found my way outside, I saw this incredibly pretty girl holding up a sign with my name on it. She misspelled it, unfortunately--she had "Winree". I didn't say anything about it, though, because her heart was in the right place. It turns out the really pretty girl was Noa, Roze's older sister. Roze completely understated just how pretty Noa is--if you could see her, Granny! She should be a model, and I told her so, but she just smiled and said she'd heard that before._

_So she helped me load my stuff into her car--which was this incredibly beautiful Mozie DX(1). I'd love to take a peek under the hood sometime!--and then she drove me away in the awesome ride. The drive to her and Roze's house took about thirty minutes, and we got to talk a lot on the way. She's actually a professional dancer--not one of the exotic ones, I know what you're thinking, Grandma--and she teaches dance classes to kids after school hours. She likes to write and dance, of course, and she says her dream is to have an entire dance troupe._

_Her and Roze's townhouse is amazing, Granny. It's actually big--I mean, really big. Big enough to fit a regular house in. She says that her dance classes pay really well, and Roze has a job to help out with bills. The room they're letting me stay in is twice as big as mine at home. And they've even got an extra room I can use as a workshop!! Provided I don't have any open flame, that is. They're being so nice already, so I've got to get a job so I can pay them back._

_Anyway, I'd better sign off. I've already unpacked everything--mostly--and took a break to write you. When Roze gets back from her classes--she's taking summer classes to graduate early--she's going to take me on a tour of Central's hotspots. That should be fun! I hope there's a good toolshop somewhere._

_Lots of love,_

_Winry_

* * *

**1: First Day**

I was just sticking my envelope to Grandma in the mailbox when I heard a shout. "Hey, Winry!"

I turned and saw Roze biking down the sidewalk towards me, waving one arm. I waved back, and she pedaled to a stop next to me. "I'm so glad you're here!" She gave me a hug. "What's your impression of Central so far?"

"Really, really different," I said honestly.

Roze smiled and nodded. "I guess it would be. But don't worry, after a while you won't even notice the noise or the hordes of people. I promise, I'll help you feel right at home."

"Thanks Roze, but the reason I'm here is for something different," I reminded her.

"Let me just change my clothes," Roze said as she wheeled the bike around her side of the townhouse, "and we'll head off. You're a walker, right?"

"Yeah. It's not, say, a habit, but I walk a lot."

"Good. We've got a lot of ground to cover. Oh, Winry, I'm so excited!" Roze hugged me again. "I'm so glad to have you here for the summer! We're going to have so much fun!"

I smiled and nodded. "This is going to be the best summer ever," I declared.

* * *

After she had changed her clothes and thrown on some sneakers, Roze led me back out of the townhouse and we turned left. "Our first stop will be the library," Roze decided.

"The library?" I repeated in surprise.

Roze nodded. "Yeah. Believe it or not, that's a great place for teens to hang out, especially in the hot months. It's always cool in the library. I bet some of the guys are there now."

"Right, now I'll get to meet the friends you always talked about in your letters," I remembered.

"I bet you'll like them," Roze said as we stopped at a crosswalk.

I hoped so. It would stink to come all the way here and have no friends besides Roze. I watched cars whiz past us, surprised at the speed they were going. When the light finally changed in our favor, at least a dozen more people had joined us at the crosswalk, and we all crossed together.

"Are there any places where people _don't_ show up in droves?" I asked.

Roze laughed. "Not really. This isn't even the worst part of Central. Once you get into the heart of downtown, it's almost shoulder-to-shoulder at times."

"Really?" I said. I had seen that in movies, of course, but never in real life. Only my first day in the big city, and I was already getting surprised.

We came across at least seven more crosswalks before we finally got to the library. I had never seen so many people grouped at one time who weren't even going the same place. It was boggling how many people just seemed to be around. I clutched my tote bag a little tighter when I saw a shifty-looking man walking in the opposite direction. I didn't need a repeat of what had happened at the train station.

"Here we are!" Roze announced. "Stop One: the Central Public Library!"

I looked up at the square brick building. White letters attached to the wall above the doors announced that it was indeed the Central Public Library. However, some of the letters were missing, so instead it was titled the Cent al P b ic Lib a y. Someone had graffitied the side wall, and the ten or so parking spaces were mostly empty. A multitude of bikes were at the bike rack, all dutifully chained up. In the distance, a horn blared, a fire engine blasting its siren went by, and someone's car alarm went off.

"It might not be much too look at, but it's still a nice place to hang out," Roze said. "Come on inside. You can meet Gracia."

I remembered Roze mentioning Gracia in her letters: the librarian that Roze had befriended a couple of years back. As we walked through the glass doors, a blast of cool air hit us, and I felt better stepping out of the heat. It was quiet inside, and all the computer terminals were occupied. A few people browsed the vast expanse of bookshelves, while fewer still were sitting at one of the tables reading. I wondered if there were any books on mechanics and resolved to get a library card.

Roze pointed towards the reception desk, where a woman with chin length, light brown hair was speaking quietly to someone holding a stack of books. Roze waited until the person left to walk up to the front desk, me following. "Hi, Gracia!" she said in a low tone.

Gracia smiled. "Hello, Roze," she said, scanning a few books without even looking down at them. "How are you today?"

"Pretty good. Gracia, this is my pen pal Winry Rockbell. She's staying with me and Noa for the summer."

Gracia's warm smile turned to me. "A pleasure to meet you, Miss Rockbell. I'm Gracia Hughes."

"Oh, it's just Winry," I said, smiling back.

"How's your husband and Elysia?" Roze asked Gracia.

"Oh, they're doing well. Elysia's going to be starting preschool in the fall, so you can imagine how worried Maes is. He's taking more pictures than normal, as if he'll never see her again."

I took a look around the library, looking for the teenagers that were supposed to be hanging out. There were plenty on the computers, a couple even using the computers designated for kids. A small group of teens was sitting at one of the round tables, workbooks and papers spread out. I guessed that they were working on homework or perhaps a group assignment for school.

"I'm going to take a quick look around," I said to Roze.

"That's a great idea! I bet you'll come to library more often. It's good to familiarize yourself with it. Want me to come?"

"That's okay," I said. "You can keep talking to Miss Gracia."

Roze smiled at me. "Just don't get lost. The library's bigger than it looks."

I doubted that would happen, but I promised I wouldn't and walked away.

* * *

Roze was right about the library being bigger than it looked. I turned corner after corner, expecting to find the back of the building, but instead finding more shelves of books arranged around tables. Most of the shelves seemed dedicated to fiction, so I tried to find the non-fiction section, which was apparently like trying to find a needle in a stack of safety pins.

Finally I gave up around the audio books section. "Maybe this library just doesn't _have_ any nonfiction section," I sighed, turning around. "A lot of good this did--"

I suddenly walked right into someone. We both fell on our seats with grunts of surprise and exclamation. I rubbed my rear, wincing. I put my hand down to push myself upright, and it landed on a pair of glasses.

"I'm sorry," I said, grabbing the glasses and standing. "I wasn't looking where I was going." I brushed myself off, then turned to face the person I had knocked down.

"Oh, it's no big deal."

I blinked, in an almost stunned way. I had run into a boy who looked to be around my age. He had golden blond hair, very long for a boy, pulled back into a neat braid. He was rubbing his eyes with one hand, and the other was holding onto a slender white cane.

"Um, here's your glasses," I said, sheepishly holding them out to him.

The boy raised his free hand and took them. "Thanks." He got to his feet, brushing himself off, then settled the glasses on his nose.

"I'm really sorry," I said. "I didn't mean to knock you down."

The boy waved a hand, and I suddenly noticed his eyes. They were a light color I couldn't quite distinguish in the gloominess of the audio books section. Whatever color they were, I could tell it was unusual. "Don't worry about it," he said. "I fall all the time." He frowned, as if something was wrong. "Do you see a book anywhere around me?"

"A book?" I looked down at the blue-green carpet and saw an overturned book about six inches from his left foot. I picked it up. "You mean this one?"

"Is it _The Destruction Of Self-Esteem Over The Ages_?"

I glanced at the title. "Yeah." I looked back up at him. "Can't you tell?"

The boy smiled. "Afraid not."

I paled as my brain finally caught up with my mouth. "Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean any offense, I-I didn't know you were blind, I mean, visually challenged, I mean--"

"Hey, it's okay," the boy said with a chuckle. "But technically, I'm not blind yet."

"What do you mean?" I asked, tilting my head in confusion.

"Well, legally I'm blind, but I can still see if there's enough light," the boy explained, holding out his hand. I gave him the book, and he tucked it under his free arm. "People tend to think I'm completely blind anyway, no matter what I say, because of the cane." He tapped the bottom of his cane on the floor as if to prove it.

I blinked. In all my years living in Risembool, I had never met a blind person, legally or otherwise. So I stuck out my hand. "I'm Winry," I said. At the last minute I mentally smacked myself, reminding myself that he probably couldn't see my hand to shake.

However, he found my hand easily and shook it. "Edward," he said. "But you can call me Ed if you want."

"It's nice to meet you," I said. "Um, so where were you headed?"

"To put the book back. I got a bit turned around, though. This library is so easy to get lost in when you can't really tell where you're going."

"It's a nonfiction book, right? I'm looking for the nonfiction section."

"Where are we now?" Edward asked.

"Audio books."

Edward considered. "Then the nonfiction section should be three aisles over. Want me to walk you there?"

I blushed, as it seemed strange that a blind--or almost blind--person would offer to walk me somewhere. "Sure," I said, falling into step with him as he started walking. I sought another conversation starter. "So, how long have you lived in Central?"

"My whole life," Ed commented. I noticed as we walked that he held his cane out at a slight angle in front of him and waved it back and forth just a little, barely missing the carpet. I guessed it was to keep from tripping over things and running into walls. "What about you?"

"This is my first day in Central," I admitted.

A smile spread over Ed's face. "Really? So you're what? A small town girl?"

"I guess. I never really thought of it that way, but I suppose I am," I agreed.

"Well, the city is much different from a small town, that much I know. What is it like? Quieter? Roomier?"

I nodded, then quickly corrected myself. "Yeah," I said. "There's actual fields of grass, too. And instead of horns and animals and fire trucks, you hear birds."

"Birds, huh?"

We made it to the nonfiction section, and I shelved the book for him. "Do you live around here?" I asked.

"A few blocks down. Otherwise I couldn't come to the library on my own," Edward said. "What about you? Where do you live?"

"Um..." Now that I thought about it, I didn't know what Roze's address was, or how far away it was from the library. I offered up the only measure of distance I had. "About eight crosswalks away," I said sheepishly.

Edward laughed. "It really is your first day," he said, but the way he said it didn't make me feel bad. "I hope you like the city so far."

"It's different," I said truthfully, "but that's why I'm here. I'd like different for one summer."

"Is that how long you're staying?"

I nodded, then corrected myself again. "Yeah. With a friend of mine."

"Well, I hope you enjoy yourself in Central for the summer," Edward said.

"Me too," I agreed.

I heard a sound like someone else was talking and turned, but no one else was in the aisle with us. I turned back to Edward to see him frowning in the general direction of the carpet. He turned his head back to me and smiled. "Well, I'd better be heading home. My mom's always worried about me if I'm even a minute late."

"You'll make it to the door okay?" I said without thinking.

Edward's smile grew, and I felt even stupider. "Yeah, I think I'll manage," he said. "Maybe I'll catch you some other time, eh?"

"Yeah, maybe!" I said. "Um, see you later!" Edward laughed again and waved as he walked off, and I physically slapped my hand to my forehead. What was with me? "See you later"? Was I really that insensitive?

I heaved a big sigh, hoping Edward didn't hate my offensiveness, and started to browse the shelves for a mechanics book.

* * *

When I finally joined Roze back at the front desk and we left the library together, ominous clouds had covered the sky. "Oh, shoot," Roze sighed. "Looks like it's gonna rain. I guess we'll have to cut the tour short."

"That's okay," I said. "We can finish it up tomorrow."

"Tomorrow I'm staying after school for a tutoring session," Roze said. "How about we reschedule Saturday?"

I nodded. "Okay. Let's get back, then; I don't want to get rained on!"

We started down the street at a faster pace as more clouds gathered.

* * *

It was dinnertime before the rain actually started coming down. Roze, Noa and I all ate at the table in the corner of the family room. We jumped a little when the thunder boomed. Fortunately, the power didn't go out.

"I'm going to review my tapes for tomorrow's lesson," Noa said, rising and stacking our cleaned plates. "Roze, would you mind doing the dishes?"

"No problem," Roze said, taking the stack from her sister.

"Want some help?" I volunteered, getting up from the table.

"Oh, don't worry about it, you're a guest--"

"Who wants to help," I said firmly. "Assign me something."

Roze blinked and smiled. "Well, okay. Can you wipe down the table and the counters?"

I nodded and grabbed a dishcloth hanging off the rack attached to the fridge. "Hey Roze, do you know anyone named Edward?"

"Edward?" Roze turned on the water and put the pile of plates and flatware in the sink. "Hmm, let's see. What does he look like?"

"Long blond hair, a little shorter than me, legally blind?"

Roze snapped her fingers. "Edward Elric. Yeah, he lives a few blocks from the library. He goes to my school. Did you meet him?"

I nodded, starting to wipe the table. "In the library. He seemed like a really nice guy."

"Oh, he is," Roze agreed. "Some people are mean to him because of, you know, the whole legally blind thing, but he's still pretty cool. We were study buddies a few times last semester."

Nice guy. Pretty cool. I wondered if he went to the library often.

"Why?" Roze asked, turning to me. Then she got this sly look on her face. "Ohhh...I get it."

"I know what you're thinking, and you can just stop thinking it right now. I'm only interested in meeting new people," I said primly.

Roze smiled. "Sure you are, Winry," she said.

"I am!" I insisted, flicking some water at her. She giggled and returned fire with a few suds from the sink.

* * *

(1) Mozie DX is an entirely fictional car brand. It's perfect for an entirely fictional world, eh?

Tada! Your first chapter. Just getting things rolling. So don't look at me like "WELL WHERE'S THE SCI-FI, HUH PUNK?" It's on the way. See you then!


	2. The Boy In The Slide

Yay! You're back! Great! Many thanks to** Arden Anam, Phantom SunsSong, Synneofthesun, S J Smith**, and **tiggeranddash** for reviewing. Responses as needed are below:

**Arden**: It is, a little bit. I've read tons of sci-fi books, and sometimes I tend to take little pieces from other books and spin them into Zilo-isms in my own fic. I can't think of any one thing specifically this is based on, though.  
**Phantom Sun**: I think you'll like where it goes. At least, I hope you will.  
**S J Smith**: I especially wanted to stress Winry's reaction to the big city, since she's a small-town girl. Trust me, the observations will get bigger and weirder.

Why did no one ask about Alphonse, I wonder? Ah, doesn't matter. I'm glad I could update fast—the ideas came flying, yay! Now, onto Chapter 2! The weirdness will officially begin!

* * *

_Dear Grandma:_

_Sorry to hear about my letter! I didn't know that someone would decide to spill coffee on just YOUR mail. At least you were able to read most of it, right?_

_So, it's Monday, and some things have happened. (Not much though, considering how busybusybusy I thought it would be in the big city.) Roze and I finished up our tour of Central's best teen hangouts on Saturday. We went to the library, the malls (they have more than one!) the movie theaters (ditto) a nightclub for teens, and Roze's school. I've met one of her friends, a boy named Edward Elric. He's legally blind. Isn't that so interesting? I've never known anyone like that. Roze thinks I have a crush, but that is so ridiculous. I'm just naturally curious, like anybody would be if they met a (legally) blind person for the first time. Either way, I do hope I run into him again._

_By the way, you'll be pleased to know that enclosed in this letter is a picture of my project. That's right, it's done! Just you wait; one day, I'll be making robots! The Rockbell name will go down in history!_

_Hugs and kisses,_

_Winry_

* * *

**2: The Boy In The Slide**

I finished my letter to Granny Pinako and stuffed it and a picture of my project, now finished and proudly displayed on my worktable, into an envelope I had already addressed. I had sealed it and was just sticking on the stamp when a knock came on my workshop's door. I twisted around in my swivel chair, already reaching for the clothes I planned to wear that day. Of course I wasn't naked--I had on the black tube top and lavender pants I always wear when I'm working on something.

"_Winry_?" Noa's voice filtered through the door. "_I'm leaving in five minutes. Will you be ready_?"

"Yes!" I said, already halfway into my blue and white-striped shirt and hot pink jeans. I finished pulling them on and grabbed my worn black hiking boots, sliding my feet out of my house slippers and jamming them into the boots. I grabbed my bag in one hand and my workclothes in the other, tossing the clothes onto the worktable. At the last minute, I remembered the scarf on my head and yanked it off, running my fingers through my bangs to fix them as I hurried to the door and opened it. "Ready!"

Noa, dressed in a long-sleeved blue shirt and an ankle-length dancer's skirt, smiled at me. "You want me to drop you off at the shopping center, right?" she said as we headed for the door together.

I nodded. "I figure that would be the best place to start looking for a job," I said.

Noa nodded. "Usually someone in the shopping center is hiring. Do you need me to pick you up after?"

"Oh, that's okay. Roze and I are meeting at the library once I'm done and she gets out of class," I said.

"All right."

* * *

Noa dropped me off at the Dublith Shopping Center, about three miles from her neighborhood. "Happy hunting," she said to me through the window.

"Happy dancing!" I replied, waving. She waved back as she pulled back out into traffic. Once her car was out of sight, I turned around to face the shopping center. Hopefully today, I'd find a job here. I started down the sidewalk to the closest store, a clothing store called Fabulous. It didn't sound like my kind of place, but I wouldn't rule it out. Maybe I would find something to like there.

* * *

An hour later, I had gone through every single store in the shopping center. Almost none were hiring, and the few who were needed people with experience. Back in Risembool I had helped my grandmother with her mechanics business. Since we were one of two businesses in town that catered to that particular need, I had plenty of experience fixing things from toasters to car engines to mechanical toys. But I couldn't find a store in this center that needed someone with that kind of experience.

A little down but not defeated, I checked the list I had brought with me. Another shopping center was only a mile away. It had half the stores, but was still worth a look. I decided to go ahead and walk, instead of taking the bus. Walking was something I had done my whole life, and taking the bus was not.

The sound of a nearby car horn made me jump. Some man in a black SUV had slowed down so the car's pace matched mine as I walked down the sidewalk. "Hey, pretty lady," the man said, grinning, "where ya headed? Can I give you a lift?"

"No thanks, I'm good," I replied, walking just a little faster.

He frowned. "Ah, come on. Don't refuse a nice man's offer. You're too pretty to just be walking."

I frowned and stopped. He stopped his car. I pulled out my wrench. "Look pal," I said, "I'm not in the mood. Why don't you get a respectable hobby instead of acting like a pervert towards high school girls?"

The man looked as though he wanted to protest, but I hadn't taken out my wrench for nothing. He glanced at it uneasily, then moved his car back into traffic. I heard him say, "Crazy girl," but ignored it and put my wrench back into my tote bag, walking along again. I watched his car until it had driven out of sight, then heaved a sigh of relief. Thank goodness for my trusty wrench.

A noise made me stop and look around. Over the noises of cars whizzing by, horns blaring, people I couldn't see yelling, dogs barking, and the like, I thought I had heard what sounded like a giggle. It had come to me loud and clear over all the noise, even though it wasn't loud itself. Seeing no one nearby that seemed capable of giggling, I continued on my way, a little more wary. I could already see the shopping center in the distance.

* * *

Unfortunately, I lucked out at the second shopping center as well. I checked my watch and saw that it was almost 1 PM. "Well, I might as well get some lunch," I said to myself, leaving the shopping center and walking to the fast-foot joint next door. Although I was pretty sure I didn't want to get into the fast food industry, I dutifully asked the bored-looking cashier if they were hiring. She said no, so I went ahead and ordered a burger and fries for lunch.

Taking my meal outside, I went to the kids' play area and sat at one of the outdoor tables. The kids' playground equipment, a couple of intertwining tube slides and a few tunnels to crawl through, had been sprayed with graffiti, and a chunk of the green slide's bottom was missing, like someone had taken a bite out of it. There weren't any kids playing, either, though someone had left an incredibly dirty pair of toddlers' sandals in the little shoe cubbies.

I ate my lunch slowly, watching traffic whiz by on the nearby street. I had told Roze that I would be at the library when she got there at four. I wondered if I should head over there anyway, and read some books, or maybe talk to Gracia. Maybe even see if the library was hiring. I didn't mind books too much.

While I sat there, my eyes wandered around, occasionally resting on something like a butterfly, or a particularly interesting car going by, or a falling leaf. A movement out of the corner of my eye made me turn, and to my surprise, the green slide was shaking, like someone was moving through it rather violently.

"Oh, so there _is_ someone's kid playing here," I said aloud, figuring it must have been this kid banging around in the slide who left the sandals. It was strange, though, how the kid hadn't started moving until just now, and I had been out here almost a half an hour.

The banging around inside the slide continued and slowly traveled down its twisting length, indicating the kid was trying to get out. It seemed as though they were having a struggle. Why couldn't they just slide? Were they too big?

Finally, the vibrating reached the mouth of the slide, and a hand poked out and grasped the lip. Whoever's hand it was, it was really dirty, and looked much too big to be any regular child's hand. I found myself watching in mild interest as this person, who seemed to be more my age than any child, reached out another dirty hand and grabbed the outside of the slide. They pulled, and I could hear them straining, as if they were seriously stuck.

I began to wonder if it was some hobo who slept in the slide. Maybe one night he had suddenly gotten bigger and could no longer fit in his shelter. I got up and walked over. "Hey, are you okay? You need help?"

"Y-Yes!" Startled, I stepped back. This person sounded pretty young. Not old enough to be a hobo, but definitely older than a kid. I crouched down so I could get a better look inside. "Are you, um, stuck?" I asked.

"Sort of," the person, who sounded like a young boy, croaked. His voice was raspy, like he had spent the last few days screaming his lungs out. "Please, just give me a hand. I'm-I'm really tired."

So I reached out one hand, the other poised to grab my wrench in case this was a trap set by some other pervert. I clasped one of the dirty hands, and it was deathly cold. The other hand latched onto my wrist, and I flinched, but the boy didn't pull me in, only seemed to use me as leverage to try and get out. Hoping I was making the right choice, I grabbed his wrist with my other hand and tugged. Something was keeping him from budging. He really was stuck!

"Hang on!" I said, gritting my teeth. I braced myself on my knees, then pulled with all my strength. Whatever it was that held him gave way, and he popped out like a cork in a bottle of champagne. My momentum knocked me backwards on my back, and he fell on top of me.

"Ow!" I yelled.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" the boy exclaimed, rolling off of me and scrambling up. I sat up, brushing the dirt off the front of my shirt, and turned to him. "Really, I'm very sorry! I didn't mean to fall on you!"

I stared. "...Um, no problem," I said, "but why are you so dirty? And what were you _doing_ in that slide?"

The boy was completely covered in dirt, like he hadn't bathed in years. His hair was filled with it, masking the color. His clothes looked both dirty and ragged. His eyes, which were brown, seemed to be the only thing on his body free of dirt. That and the inside of his mouth, maybe. "It's a very long story," he said, starting to brush off his clothes rather futilely. "I just need something to drink, and um, something to eat too, and a really long shower. Or bath."

I blinked. "...Well...you want my soda?" I took my cup of half-finished cola off of the table and held it out to him.

"Yes, please!" The boy took the soda, pulled off the plastic top, and drank the whole thing down in one gulp, no breaks included. "Sorry," he said when he came up for air, wiping his mouth, "but I haven't had a decent drink in ages! The non-alcoholic type, of course."

My eyes turned towards my food. I had nearly finished the fries, but had only taken a few bites of the burger. "You want that too?" I asked, pointing towards the food.

"If you don't mind." The boy sat down at the table, where I had just been, and finished the food in about ten seconds. "Thank you so much!" he said, standing and bowing to me.

I stood up. "It's not a problem, but really, _why_ were you in the slide? And who are you?"

"Oh!" the boy held out a hand, then thought better of it and held it behind his back, grinning sheepishly. "Sorry. I'm Alphonse, but you can call me Al if you'd like."

I tilted my head slightly, wondering why that sounded so familiar to me. Not the name, but the way he said it. "Well, I'm Winry, and it's nice to meet you," I said.

"It's nice to meet you too," Alphonse said, seeming very paradoxical by being covered in dirt while talking so politely. "I don't mean to sound weird, but what month is it?"

"Month? June, why?"

"June?!" Alphonse heaved a big sigh. "Oh, thank goodness! I was afraid that years and years might have passed!" Seeming to remember me, he looked back in my direction. "You wouldn't happen to know anyone with the last name Elric, would you?"

My eyes widened in surprise. "Yes, one. Why?"

"Could you please tell me if they still live at 2013 Royai?"

"Um, I don't know," I said, holding my hands up. "If that's a few blocks from the library, then yeah, I guess."

"It is!" Alphonse said, sounding happy. "Then I can get home!"

Once again I was hit by another surprise. "Home?" I repeated. "So...you're related to Edward?"

Alphonse nodded, beaming. "He's my older brother!"

* * *

I waited outside the men's bathroom. I had used the blank side of my list to put an "Out of Order" sign on the door, so no one walked in on Alphonse while he attempted to clean himself up as best he could in a bathroom. I heard the toilet flush several times, and the sink water never stopped running, and he kept turning on the dryer, so I had no clue what he was doing.

We had snuck him into the building after removing as much dirt as we could with a pile of napkins, which wasn't much. It was almost as if the dirt was reproducing itself on him, there was so much. We figured that they wouldn't let someone as covered with dirt as Alphonse was just walk in, which was why we snuck. Fortunately, the bathrooms were right next to a side door.

I sighed through my nose and absently watched a few people place their orders, pay, and then wait for them. What was going on? I had been innocently looking for a job, and then suddenly I find Edward Elric's younger brother, covered in dirt and climbing out of a kiddie slide. I still expected an explanation about the slide thing, and all the dirt. And why had he thought that years and years would have passed while he was in a slide? The thought occurred to me that maybe Alphonse was mentally unstable, but he had seemed too nice for that. If you cut out all the weird stuff, he seemed like a normal, polite kid. So what was going on?

A chill suddenly swept over me, and I felt goosebumps rise up on my arms. But it was still hot outside. Was I standing under an air vent? I looked up, but only the ceiling greeted me.

My attention was pulled to the door. A woman opened it and walked in. Somehow, without even knowing why, I realized that my sudden coldness came from her. She had pale skin, which contrasted sharply with her dark green, low-cut dress, matching opera gloves, and her knee-length, wavy black hair. Her eyes were a color I had never seen on a person: a shade of violet. I normally would have considered that shade "bright", but on her they were cold. In fact, the waves of chill rolling off her, combined with her pale skin, made her seem like a hypothermia victim. The two people in line shuddered as she passed them, so I knew it wasn't just me. She bent slightly over the counter, her ample cleavage threatening to pop right out of her dress, to speak to the cashier, who looked a lot less bored and a lot more chilly.

Something in my gut told me this woman was bad news. I had no idea who she was, but my stomach twisted as if I had eaten some bad food. I absently crossed my arms in a defensive way, swallowing hard and wishing this coldness would stop. In the men's room, the dryer suddenly turned off, and the water stopped running. Did Alphonse feel it too? This woman was freezing the entire room with her mere presence, like she was a human blizzard. But she was just a woman!

"Excuse me."

The cold around me sharpened almost painfully as a low, smooth voice addressed me. I lifted my head to see that the woman now stood near me, her attention--and all her cold--focused on me. I worked hard not to shiver, wishing for a parka and an electric blanket. Her eyes, colder now that they were pointed at my face, were downright scary. I barely registered that she had even said a word to me. I was almost tempted to check if I could see my breath.

"I'm looking for someone."

I knew it was Alphonse before she even showed me his picture. It looked like a school picture, with a bronze-haired, brown-eyed boy smiling happily at the camera. It could have been any other boy under Alphonse's coating of dirt, but I knew it had to be him. The eyes were the same.

"His name is Alphonse. Have you seen him?"

I tore my eyes from the picture and looked back up at the woman. My teeth were on the verge of chattering. The cold pressed in on me, and I felt like _I_ was the hypothermia victim. "U-Um," I stammered, unable to keep my voice from wavering in the chill, "no. S-Sorry, I haven't."

The woman stared at me, as if she knew I was lying. My knees were knocking together, from cold and fear, but from the depths of my...something, I pulled together an impressive stare back and launched it at her.

I felt like I was about to pass out, like how people fall asleep when they're deathly cold and then die. Suddenly, the cold lessened a little, and the woman put the picture back in her pocket. "No, of course not," she said, though she wasn't looking at me anymore. "Thank you anyway." She turned and left, her atmosphere of arctic winter following.

I heaved a great big sigh of relief, and so, it seemed, did everyone else in the fast food place. The heat, no longer being beaten back, returned, and I rubbed my arms as the gooseflesh receded. "Wasn't that woman freaky?" a girl in line said.

"She was like portable Alaska weather," the cashier commented.

I rubbed my arms, legs, and neck, making sure the heat had returned. The men's room door opened a crack, and Alphonse peered out. "Is she gone?"

"Yeah," I said.

He opened the door and crept out. His hair was wet, and he had a red coat wrapped around him. I walked him out the other door, the one opposite from where the ice queen had exited.

"Do you know who that was?" I demanded once we were safely down the sidewalk.

Alphonse nodded, looking grim. "She calls herself Lust."

"...Say that again?"

"Lust, I said. I know, it sounds odd, but that's what she calls herself. She's one of the ones who had me kidnapped."

I blinked. "You mean...you were being held in that slide against your will?" I asked.

"No, no!" Alphonse shook his head. "It's a really long story, and Brother can probably explain it better. Let's get to his house."

* * *

So, Alphonse led me to a residential neighborhood. He seemed so happy to see it that some of the happiness rubbed off on me, and I couldn't help but smile. "So, Alphonse, how old are you?"

"Fifteen," Alphonse said. So he was a year younger than me. I wondered how old that made Edward. "Wow, it's just so good to be back in familiar territory." He closed his eyes, spread his arms wide, and inhaled deeply through his nose. "Territory that isn't hostile, that is," he added.

"Were you a kidnappee that long?" I asked.

"Long enough," Alphonse answered. He smiled at me. "So how did you meet Brother?"

I had figured out that "Brother" was Edward. "I ran into him in the Central Public Library a few days ago," I told him. "Literally, actually."

Alphonse nodded. "Brother always likes to go there. He says the library held all the answers."

"Your brother seems to be a really nice guy," I said.

"He is! He's the best big brother in the whole world!" Alphonse said vehemently. "Even though he's got so many natural challenges to deal with, he never lets it stop him. When his mind decides to do something, he won't stop, even for a brick wall!"

I laughed. "That's pretty impressive," I said.

"It is, but sometimes it got him in trouble," Alphonse pointed out. "Oh, sorry--I meant gets. I'm talking in past tense like I'm not about to go home and see him and Mom again!"

"If you don't mind me asking, how did it happen?"

Alphonse heaved a sigh. "Really quickly," he said. "One minute, I was walking with Brother back from school, and the next, they had snatched me up in the blink of an eye. It was pretty scary, but they told me I'd be all right as long as--" He broke off, looking hesitant. "Well, I guess I won't go into the gory details."

"I'm so sorry such an awful thing happened to you," I said sympathetically.

Al gave me a sunny smile. "That's okay. I'm back now, and that's what counts." He turned and pointed. "See that house with the rosebush in the front yard? That's my house!"

"Is that your gardener?" I asked, pointing to the man carefully trimming said rosebush.

"Garden--oh no." Suddenly, Al's face was pale, and he stopped in his tracks. He grabbed my hand and pulled me backwards, his brown eyes never leaving the gardener's back, which was facing us.

I looked at him worriedly. "What is it?"

"Shh!" Alphonse turned me around by the shoulders and pushed me in the direction we had just come in. Confused, I complied and started walking, noting the look of fear on his face. He walked backward with me, and kept doing so until we were a good distance away from the house. Then he turned around, grabbed my hand again, and started running.

"Why are we running? Alphonse? Who was that man?" I asked as I ran alongside him.

"He must be working for my kidnappers," Alphonse said, looking grim. "They're trying to catch me again."

"What?" I exclaimed.

Alphonse slowed to a jog, then a walk, and I followed suit. "They'll probably have someone around my house 24/7, in case I try to come back," he said, sighing heavily. "This is terrible! What do I do?"

"Do?" I repeated. "We can't call the police?"

"No!" Alphonse exclaimed.

I stared at him, about to ask why not, but then I remembered several of the movies I had seen about people living in the big city. The police were always either ineffective against the bad guys, run by somebody corrupt, or corrupt themselves. They got that from somewhere, right? "Okay, never mind," I amended. "Maybe I can ask Roze and Noa if you can stay with us for a little bit. I'm not sure if they'll agree, but--"

"No, I have an idea," Alphonse interrupted. "Will they let you bring home a cat?"

I stared at him. "Maybe, but--"

"Good. I'll give you Brother's cell phone number, and you can call him once we get back to your house," Alphonse said. "I don't mean to be pushy, but we need to plan fast and act fast if I'm going to stay out of those guys' clutches."

I rubbed my forehead. "Well, I get that, but what do cats have to do--"

Alphonse smiled at me as he reached in his pocket and pulled something out. "I hope you're not easily surprised or scared," he said as he opened his hand to reveal a tiny pale green pill. He popped the pill in his mouth and swallowed it dry. "And I'm really sorry for dragging you into this, Winry."

I opened my mouth to ask him what he was talking about, but all questions and comments flew out of my mind as he suddenly shrunk so much that he disappeared inside his clothes. They fell to the ground silently, as if no one had been in them. I followed their path dumbly, and then stared at the empty pile of clothes.

As it turned out, it wasn't empty after all. A small mound popped up under it, like a little head, and moved around until it found the neck of the shirt Alphonse had been wearing. I watched, a little tense as to what was about to show up, and still trying to digest that Alphonse had just vanished.

A small, furry head the same bronze color as Al's hair poked out of the shirt. It turned upward and raised big brown eyes to me. It meowed once.

I gasped and stepped back. Alphonse had turned into a cat.

* * *

There! Sci-fi-ic enough for you? I'd certainly hope so. Sorry to leave you at a bit of a cliffie, but hey, why not?  
Anyway, I hope you'll join me next time for when more sci-fi-type stuff happens!


	3. Rewrite

Phew, churning out this chapter was harder than I thought. I originally had it going one way, then I changed up so I could introduce another character sooner. So, anyway…

Many thanks to **Bar-Ohki, tiggeranddash, Phantom SunsSong,** and **D3athrav3n** for reviewing. And sorry for the wait. TSG was clinging to my back, begging to be updated. It's hard to concentrate when there's a little whiny voice in your ear.

* * *

_Alphonse smiled at me as he reached in his pocket and pulled something out. "I hope you're not easily surprised or scared," he said as he opened his hand to reveal a tiny pale green pill. He popped the pill in his mouth and swallowed it dry. "And I'm really sorry for dragging you into this, Winry."_

_I opened my mouth to ask him what he was talking about, but all questions and comments flew out of my mind as he suddenly shrunk so much that he disappeared inside his clothes. They fell to the ground silently, as if no one had been in them. I followed their path dumbly, and then stared at the empty pile of clothes._

_As it turned out, it wasn't empty after all. A small mound popped up under it, like a little head, and moved around until it found the neck of the shirt Alphonse had been wearing. I watched, a little tense as to what was about to show up, and still trying to digest that Alphonse had just vanished._

_A small, furry head the same bronze color as Al's hair poked out of the shirt. It turned upward and raised big brown eyes to me. It meowed once._

_I gasped and stepped back. Alphonse had turned into a cat._

* * *

**3: Rewrite**

I stared. And stared. Alphonse, now a bronze kitten, stared up at me with those big brown kitten eyes and meowed again.

No. It was impossible. People couldn't just transform into cats by eating weird pills. I had to be dreaming.

"Al?" I ventured.

The kitten nodded, and I nearly fainted dead away. "That's really you?" I exclaimed. "How did you do that? And why? Is _this_ why you were asking about cats? Don't you realize how crazy this is?"

Al just tilted his head in that way people do when they're shrugging, like "What can you do?"

I knelt down so I could be at closer eye level with Alphonse. "So now what? I bring you home and pretend you're some kitty I found? This is insane, you realize that, right?"

Alphonse nodded and meowed again. I sighed heavily and lifted him up. "I think I'm going to go home, take a nap, and then wake up for real, because this has got to be a dream."

But it certainly _felt_ real. I felt the tiredness of walking around for a long time. And I could still distinctly remember that woman and the cold front she brought in with her to the fast food joint. The big city was supposedly full of surprises, right? So maybe boys turning into cats was a natural occurrence here?

Somehow, I didn't think Risembool was _that_ secluded.

However, whether or not I was dreaming, I still had one Alphonse-cat on my hands, a pile of clothes in front of me, and some sort of mess to deal with. So, I decided to try and solve this like I did any normal problem. I picked up Alphonse's clothes, put them in my tote bag, put Alphonse in the crook of my arm, and started down the sidewalk, like I wasn't insane.

* * *

By the time I made it back to the townhouse, it was 2:45. The place was empty. I had already been given a house key, so I let myself in. I went to my room, dropped my tote bag on my bed and sank down in my desk chair, sighing. Alphonse hopped out of the crook of my arm and onto the desk. He padded around until he had found a piece of paper, and a pen, and then, amazingly, he stood up on his hind kitty legs, grabbed the pen with his forepaws, and started to write on the paper. As if I hadn't seen enough unbelievable things today. I leaned forward to see what he wrote.

_Brother's number is 555-1121._

I blinked. "Oh, Edward, right!" I rolled across the carpet to my bed, fished in my tote bag, and came up with my cellphone. I rolled back across the room, double-checked the paper, and then dialed the number. I put the cell to my ear and waited.

One ring. Two rings. Three rings. I looked over at Alphonse, who had gotten back down on all fours and now looked at me expectantly.

After the fifth ring, there was a click. "_Hey, this is Ed Elric's cellphone. Sorry I'm not available right now. Leave a message and I'll get back to you, unless you're a telemarketer, or a bill collector. And if it's you, Roy, I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN_."

I blinked as there was a beep, indicating I should record a message. Instead, I closed the phone and shrugged. "He wasn't there."

Alphonse stood up and wrote some more. _Try again, please_ he wrote this time.

"Okay." I re-dialed and held the phone to my ear. Once again, it rang and rang. I was about to hang up again when it clicked, and the familiar voice answered. "_Hello_?"

"Edward? It's Winry. From, um, the library?" I said.

"_Oh! Winry!_" There was a note of amusement in Edward's voice. "_I didn't know you had my number_."

I felt my face growing red. What did he mean by that? "I didn't," I replied, a little defensively. "Your brother gave it to me."

I hadn't meant to bring up the Alphonse subject as bluntly as that. I suddenly realized what I had said, and held my breath. There was dead silence on the other end, and any trace of humor was immediately gone.

"Well, I didn't mean to say it like that," I hastily amended. "But it's true. I found your brother Alphonse crawling out of a kiddie slide, and he was dirty as all get out. He told me he'd been kidnapped walking back from school with you--"

"_You found Al?_" Edward said, his voice stunned to barely above a whisper.

"Yes," I said, nodding. "I'd give him the phone, but uh..." I glanced at Alphonse, who was scratching behind an ear. "He's...well, he's a cat right now."

Dead silence again. Then Edward burst into laughter. "_A cat?!_" he repeated. "_Typical Al! Where are you guys now?_"

"Back where I'm staying," I said.

"_If he drinks some orange juice, that will reverse the effect. How soon can you meet me at the library?_"

"I just walked in, so I can leave right away," I said.

"_All right, then let's meet outside the library in about fifteen minutes, okay?_" Edward said.

"Sure," I agreed easily.

"_And Winry?_"

"Yes?"

"_If you think you're dreaming or going crazy, you aren't. I'll explain when we meet up, okay?_"

"Okay," I said. I heard a click and closed my phone, heaving a sigh. "Well, today certainly turned weird," I said as I turned back to Alphonse. "We're meeting your brother at the library, after you have, er, orange juice?"

Alphonse nodded, blinking his big kitty eyes.

* * *

Edward had been right. Once Alphonse downed a few kitty-sized swallows of orange juice, he suddenly shot back to human form. I had brought his clothes with me, and since he hadn't had anything on as a kitten, he now had nothing on as a human. I let out a brief shriek and hurled his clothes at him, quickly spinning in the other direction. He apologized profusely as he got dressed.

Once the embarrassment died away, we walked to the library. I almost got us lost, having to remember which way to go, and Alphonse didn't quite remember as he had never gone to the library from the direction of Roze's place. But we did eventually make it there. And Edward was waiting near the steps, looking grim behind his glasses.

Seeing his brother's face, Alphonse drew in a breath. "What is it?" I asked worriedly.

"Oh...um, nothing," Alphonse said, turning a smile onto me. "I just haven't seen Brother in so long."

When we got to the steps, Alphonse and Edward hugged each other hard. "You're okay?" Edward asked worriedly, holding his brother at arm's length to give him a once-over.

"I'm fine," Alphonse said. "Just fine. Thanks to Winry." He seemed to put extra meaning into this sentence, and I looked at him confusedly as he gave his brother a significant look.

Edward frowned and shook his head. He turned to me, taking a step in front of his brother. "I appreciate your helping my brother out," he said.

"She protected me from Lust, too," Alphonse piped up, with an edge in his voice.

Edward glanced back at him, then turned to me. "Really?"

I nodded. "The winter wonderland lady? Yeah."

"Wow. That was...well, thanks," Edward said. For a moment, his tone had been surprised, then it had changed back to this measured gratefulness. I could tell I was missing something entirely, but I just didn't know what. "I appreciate it. I really do. I've been looking for my brother for a long time."

"Well, of course," I said, my brow still furrowed. "But, um...is something wrong? You seem kind of...I don't know, upset or something."

Edward sighed heavily. "No, I'm fine," he said.

I took him at his word and resolved not to bring it up again. "Okay," he said, "so I promised I'd explain what's going on, right?"

Before I could nod, Alphonse butted in. "Brother, wait," he pleaded. "Do we have to--"

Edward, without looking, reached back and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. His eyes never left my face. "Winry, once again, thanks for helping Al. We're both grateful."

The way he said it, it sounded like a goodbye speech or something. I became more bewildered.

"However, I can't explain to you why you've seen what you have today." Edward took a step forward, his gaze resigned yet determined. "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to forget it all."

I blinked. "What? What do you mean?" There was no way I could forget the crazy occurrences. Alphonse being held hostage in a slide and transforming into a cat, that weird woman with the weirder name and the cold atmosphere around her. I could only guess that maybe he didn't want me running around telling people about it.

"You mean...you want me not to say anything about all this weird stuff?" I ventured. I was willing enough to do that, if it meant so much to them.

Edward shook his head, and a smile that seemed almost regretful crossed his face. "If that was a reliable option, I'd take you up on that. But we can't risk it."

"Brother," Alphonse said again, his tone pleading.

"Sorry," Edward said to me.

I was beginning to realize that something else weird was about to happen, and that it seemed to involve messing with my memory. I took a hesitant step backwards, prepared to either run or whip out my wrench. But before I could make another move, something dark whizzed from behind Edward. In half the time it would take me to blink, it had moved around us, and I could sense a person directly behind me. A hand descended on top of my head, and the world in front of me and all around me changed to nothing but white with a whoosh and a snap. I heard Alphonse's voice echoing sadly, "I'm so sorry, Winry," before the whiteness engulfed me. My ears popped, my fingers sizzled as if with electricity, and my eyes felt like I had rolled them too far back in my head.

Mechanically, I felt my legs moving me forward, without my commanding them to do anything. I walked, turned, and sat down on something hard and hot.

That was the position I was in when the world returned, and all the weird feelings in my ears, eyes, and skin subsided.

* * *

"Winry!"

I turned to see Roze biking up the sidewalk, waving at me. I blinked, and then looked around. I was at the library, sitting on the steps. I checked my watch and saw that it was 4:04. But the last I had checked, it was a few hours earlier, and I had been eating lunch at a fast food joint.

Hadn't I?

Roze had reached me by this time and parked her bike. "Were you waiting long?" she asked.

I honestly didn't know. "No, not really," I said, standing up. There was no reason to worry Roze.

She nodded. "So how'd the job hunt go?"

"Um...I struck out this time," I said, still wondering at the strange gap in the day. "Maybe tomorrow."

"Maybe. Want to head to the Cain Plaza and window shop?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

* * *

When we got home around 5:30, Noa was home and had already started cooking dinner. I headed upstairs to take a shower, promising to be down in time to eat with Roze and Noa.

I collected my bath essentials and dropped my tote bag on my desk. A piece of paper caught my attention, and I picked it up. Two sentences were written on it. _Brother's number is 555-1121_ and _Try again, please_, in handwriting that definitely wasn't mine.

"'Brother'?" I said aloud, frowning. "Who's that?" I tried staring at the number until it rang a bell, but nothing surfaced.

_Call it._

I frowned at the whisper. Was that me thinking? I turned, but no one was in my room. I shrugged and went ahead to the bathroom, resolving to think about it afterwards.

* * *

By nightfall, I still hadn't figured out what the mysterious number was about, or who had written it. I had shown it to Roze and Noa, but neither of them recognized the handwriting. Roze suggested I call the number, but for some reason I felt dread in doing so.

I lay on my back on my bed, looking up at the ceiling. I had the lamp on the nightstand on, and was holding the piece of paper up, looking at it. On the one hand, I wanted to call it, but every time I considered doing so, a flood of unexplainable emotions ran through me. It was keeping me from a nice peaceful sleep, which drove me nuts.

"It's too late at night to call any strange number," I finally decided aloud, crumpling the paper in my fist. "I'll just forget the whole thing." I reached over and turned off the light.

_You dummy._

Why was I hearing voices?

I pulled the covers over my head and closed my eyes. Today had been far too weird. First the gap in memory, then the strange phone number, and now voices in my head. If this was how it was for every person who came to the big city, I wondered why the big city was so densely populated. Perhaps everyone in it was used to odd things happening and didn't care. Or maybe I was crazy.

I hoped I wasn't crazy. I really did.

* * *

Two days later, I still hadn't found either a job or an explanation for the missing piece of Monday. I found myself ending my futile job search at the library, where I got an application for a library card from Gracia. I took the application over to an empty table and sat down to fill it out.

Once I had done that, I took it back to Gracia to turn it in. She was currently checking out a few audio books for a familiar-looking blond figure. I squinted, trying to remember his name, and then it came to me. "Edward!"

He whirled, a look of surprise and what looked like fear or nervousness on his face.

"Hi," I said, smiling. "I'm Winry. Remember? I knocked you over in the audio books section a few days ago."

"Oh, Winry," Edward said, relaxing. "Hi. How have you been?"

"Pretty good," I said. "Right now I'm just looking for a job."

"How's that going?"

I shrugged. "Nothing yet, but I'm still working on it. How's your brother?"

He flinched. I blinked, then frowned. "Wait...do you have a brother?"

Edward nodded, his mouth in a line. I furrowed my brow as I tried to figure out how I knew that. "Um, well, how's he doing? I mean, you know..." I trailed off, not really knowing what I meant.

"He's okay," Edward said. There was something in his voice I couldn't place.

"What's his name?"

"Alphonse."

I blinked a couple of times again, then smiled. "That was really odd. I have no idea how I knew you had a brother."

"Maybe I mentioned it and you forgot," Edward said.

Considering my sudden amnesia, I didn't believe it was impossible. "Maybe," I agreed.

Edward collected his audio books. "Well, maybe I'll run into you some other time, Winry," he said, heading for the exit.

"Okay. Bye, Edward."

Once he had gone through the doors, Gracia let out a little chuckle. "I think you flustered poor Edward there," she said, taking my application. She turned to her computer and started clicking and typing. "He can get nervous around pretty girls."

"I guess," I said absently, but in the back of my mind, I wondered why that strange phone number had popped in my head again.

* * *

After dinner that night, I went up to my room, intent on writing a new letter to my Granny Pinako. However, when I opened the door and walked in, I kicked a balled-up piece of paper. I reached down and picked it up, wondering what it was, and unballed it.

"Oh," I said as I looked at the two mystery sentences again, now partially obscured by a mass of wrinkles. "The number." I carried it to my desk and sat down, looking at it for a moment.

_Come on, call it._

There was that voice again. I looked at the number a few seconds more, then pulled my cellphone from my pocket and flipped it open. I checked the paper again, then dialed. I hit the Talk button and put the phone to my ear. For some reason, my heart sped up, and my stomach clenched, like I was about to jump off a bridge.

The phone didn't even ring, but switched directly to voicemail. I nearly fell out of my seat when I heard the familiar voice. "_Hey, this is Ed Elric's cellphone. Sorry I'm not available right now. Leave a message and I'll get back to you, unless you're a telemarketer, or a bill collector. And if it's you, Roy, I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN._"

It was Edward from the library. But how had I gotten his number? I took the phone from my ear and stared at it as if staring would conjure up some answers.

"But...why?" I found myself saying.

My cellphone snapped itself shut, and I started. _You left him a message, dummy_, the voice said to me again, sounding as if it were scolding.

"All right, I've had enough! Who are you?" I demanded of the wall.

There was a pop behind me, and I jumped, whirling. "_FINALLY_!" the voice exclaimed, now completely audible outside of my mind. I turned around wildly, looking for the source.

"Over here, psychopath." I turned back to the desk, and what did I see but an actual woman standing on it. She had blond hair that was pretty short, except for a strand that hung in front of her face, green eyes(1) and very full lips. She was dressed in a black sleeveless shirt tucked into gray stirrup leggings that were pulled over black combat boots and held up with glittery suspenders. But the most astonishing thing of all was that she was about six inches tall.

I stared for a moment, completely dumbfounded. She looked vaguely irritated.

"What--when--what--" I found myself stammering.

"Oh, jeez," the woman sighed, walking across my desk towards my hand. She pinched the skin on my hand with her tiny fingers. "Stop babbling, will you? If you're wondering, I couldn't manifest until you finally acknowledged me--close your mouth, will you!"

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. "But who are you?" I exclaimed. "And why are you so--well, I don't know, tiny!"

"Just call me Marta," the woman said, "and don't get all in a knot because I wasn't born the same size as you. It's rude to stare, so quit."

I dutifully averted my eyes to the wall. Marta stepped onto my hand, walked up my arm like it was her own personal ramp, and settled herself on my shoulder. "Now," she said, "let's go about getting your memory back."

* * *

(1) Marta's green eyes: I'm not precisely sure what color Marta's eyes are, but I think they're green. If anyone knows, please inform me.

For a point of reference, 6 inches is about the same height as a dollar bill would be if you stood it on end. So, yay! More next time!


	4. Memory Medicine

So, yay! Next chappie's here! Thanks to **D3athrav3n, Orange Singer, Bar-Ohki, Took-Baggins, tiggeranddash** and **Synneofthesun** for reviewing! I'm very VERY sleepy, so I'm going to update and then take a nap. Enjoy!

* * *

_"Over here, psychopath." I turned back to the desk, and what did I see but an actual woman standing on it. She had blond hair that was pretty short, except for a strand that hung in front of her face, green eyes and very full lips. She was dressed in a black sleeveless shirt tucked into gray stirrup leggings that were pulled over black combat boots and held up with glittery suspenders. But the most astonishing thing of all was that she was about six inches tall._

_I stared for a moment, completely dumbfounded. She looked vaguely irritated._

_"What--when--what--" I found myself stammering._

_"Oh, jeez," the woman sighed, walking across my desk towards my hand. She pinched the skin on my hand with her tiny fingers. "Stop babbling, will you?"_

_I couldn't believe what I was seeing. "But who are you?" I exclaimed. "And why are you so--well, I don't know, tiny!"_

_"Just call me Marta," the woman said, "and don't get all in a knot because I wasn't born the same size as you. It's rude to stare, so quit."_

_I dutifully averted my eyes to the wall. Marta stepped onto my hand, walked up my arm like it was her own personal ramp, and settled herself on my shoulder. "Now," she said, "let's go about getting your memory back."_

* * *

**4: Memory Medicine**

I blinked. "You know?"

Marta nodded, swinging her little legs back and forth. "Yep. I was there. Would've done something, maybe, but I was still invisible."

"Then you know what happened?" I exclaimed. "But how do I get my memories back?"

"Not so loud, dummy," Marta said. "You'll wake up the whole block."

I lowered my voice. "Well, stop calling me dummy, then. My name is Winry."

"Winry. Whatever." Marta waved a hand, like it didn't matter.

"Now tell me how I get that chunk of the afternoon back!" I practically begged. "I think it has something to do with Edward and Alphonse Elric, but I'm not sure what!"

"You'd be right on that," Marta said. "The Edward one's the cause of your amnesia. He did it."

I gasped. "_Him_! But why? What didn't he want me remembering?"

"Look, rather than me dithering the whole story to you, why don't we just get your memory back?" Marta suggested.

"How?"

"Willing to go for a walk?" Marta asked.

I blinked then, looked out up at the window. "You mean sneak out? We've got to go somewhere?"

"Yes, dummy. Winry, sorry." Marta shifted her position on my shoulder. "Go ahead and throw some shoes on, and let's go. Time's wasting."

I was torn between my desire for my memories and not wanting to do something that seemed like sneaking out, and therefore wrong. Finally, my memories won out, and I threw my black high tops back on and grabbed my tote bag. Marta jumped down off my shoulder and settled herself on the edge of the tote bag, between its two shoulder straps.

Together, we left very quietly through the front door. Feeling like a criminal, I crept down the driveway to the sidewalk. "So, where to?" I whispered once we were at the end of the driveway.

Marta rolled her eyes. "Come off it, will you? They won't kick you out because you take a nighttime stroll, you idiot. Just calm down."

I tried, but it didn't really work. Seeing that she wasn't getting anywhere, Marta sighed and changed topics. "Just turn right and walk until I say," she ordered.

Off we went. I glanced back at the townhouse several times, expecting to see a light on in the window. I kept looking until we walked by a brick building, which blocked my view. Only then did I focus solely on walking forward.

The night was mildly warm, so I didn't need anything to cover my yellow tank top and black shorts. Even though it was close to nine, there were still people driving by and walking down the sidewalk, only not as many mind-numbing numbers as during the daytime. I didn't see any other women walking by themselves and assumed this was because the freaks came out at night.

As if reading my thoughts, Marta spoke up. "Don't get spooked," she said. "You've got that wrench in here, don't you?"

I nodded. "Maybe I don't want to know, but how did you know about my wrench?"

"I saw you brandish it in that would-be kidnapper's face," Marta replied, sounding highly amused. "That was when I first started tagging along with you, actually. You didn't look like a city kid, but you had enough attitude to deal with a city problem. You were interesting."

"Oh, is _that_ why?" I said with a sigh.

"Turn right here," Marta suddenly commanded.

I stopped and turned to the right to find myself facing a dark alley. "You're kidding," I said.

"Nope. This is where she lives. Start walking if you want your memory back."

With one hand inside my tote bag, clenching the handle of my wrench, I walked into the alley. The light of the streetlights didn't reach very far down, so I soon found myself in near darkness. I saw a small half-circle of light over a plain door a few yards down.

"That's our destination," Marta said, pointing at the door.

I nodded and walked towards it, eager to get back into the light. I climbed the single step and raised my hand to knock. Then I paused. "I can knock, right?"

Marta sighed. "How else do you use a door, dummy?"

"_Winry_," I corrected, before knocking on the door.

A rectangular slot at about eye level slid open, revealing two dark eyes. "Password?" a man's voice said.

Marta climbed up my arm again so she could stand on my shoulder and glower at the eyes. "Let us in before I poke your eyes out," she said.

"Hi, Marta," the man said, obviously unfazed by Marta's threats. The slot slid closed, and then there were a series of clicking noises. Then the door swung open silently. I had expected it to creak loudly. Wasn't that how all mysterious doors were in the big city?

I found myself facing the owner of the eyes, a tall man with dark hair wearing a white dress shirt tucked into blue slacks. "All right, what's up?" he demanded. "Some of us are trying to sleep."

"Quit lying. You don't do anything human anymore," Marta replied. She pounded her little fist on my neck, which just felt like a hard poke. "Go ahead and walk in. Don't let His Grumpiness Roy intimidate you."

I hesitantly stepped forward, and was relieved when the man, Roy, stepped aside to let me through. I walked in, and he closed the door behind me. "So, what can we do for you?" he asked me.

"Well, I'm Winry, and Marta said she was bringing me someplace where I could get my memory back," I said.

"Hmmm," Roy said, examining my face. "Yeah, looks like you got the white-out. Come on." He gestured for me to follow him, and turned around and walked. I followed as we walked down a hall with light blue walls, unmarked by a single door, and dark blue carpet. I couldn't see any lights anywhere, but it was bright enough to see, as if the walls themselves were creating the light.

We seemed to walk forever, in which time I realized the name Roy sounded familiar. "Um, Mr. Roy?"

"Just Roy, kid."

"Do you know someone named Edward Elric?"

Roy paused in his stride, then continued. "Yep, I know him. Do you?"

"I think he was the one who did this to me."

Roy stopped entirely and turned to face me. I stopped too, confused. Roy was glaring, but I realized that it wasn't at me.

"Dare I ask why you brought her here?" Roy asked of Marta.

"What? It's no fun hanging around someone who doesn't remember half the Abnormal stuff," Marta replied.

Roy sighed and covered his eyes with his hand.

"Is something wrong?" I asked. "Can I still get my memory back?"

"What? Oh, yeah. Come on." Roy walked on a little bit longer, then stopped in front of what looked like more blank wall. I stood next to him, confused as to what the wall was supposed to do.

Roy, to my surprise, knocked twice on the wall. "If Ed erased your memory, then he did so for a reason," Roy told me. "You obviously saw or heard something you weren't supposed to, and he was only doing his duty to keep it under wraps."

"So you're telling me I shouldn't be mad at him?" I guessed. "Too late, I already am."

Roy shrugged. "I'm not saying I blame you, just telling you the truth."

"If he didn't want me telling people whatever it was, I could have done that much," I protested hotly. "It isn't like I would have been spreading it around. He could have _asked_!"

Roy just shrugged again. At that point, the section of the wall in front of us suddenly morphed into a wooden door, complete with doorknob. As I gaped at it, Roy turned the knob and swung the door inward. "Ladies first," he said with a sweeping gesture.

Marta punch-poked me again. "Stop gawking," she ordered.

I collected myself enough to walk through the door. Roy followed me and closed the door behind us.

We were now in what looked like a large living room. The walls were cream-colored, and the floor was polished hardwood. Matching navy furniture was pushed against the left and right walls, and a red and blue area rug covered the center of the floor. Against the wall opposite the door was a nondescript desk with a cooler and what looked like a horde of chemistry equipment on top. A closed laptop was pushed to the edge of the desk to make room for all the other clutter.

"Nice room," I found myself saying.

Roy walked in and looked around. He heaved a sigh. "Where is she?" he grumbled.

Marta looked around also. I, having no idea what else to do, joined in the looking around.

"Paninya!" Roy yelled, sounding peeved.

A slot in the ceiling that I hadn't seen before opened, and out dropped a girl. She fell facedown onto the floor with a muffled thump.

"There you are," Roy sighed. "Didn't you hear me knock?"

The girl sat up, rubbing her forehead. She had short, dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and was wearing an oversized black T-shirt and camouflage leggings, and black socks. "I'm here now, right?" she said, standing.

"You're never where you say you'll be. Ever," Roy said irritably.

The girl, or Paninya, smiled and shrugged, as if his opinion didn't matter. Then she noticed me. "Hi! I'm Paninya!" She stuck out a hand.

I reached to shake it, but Roy was faster, and he grabbed Paninya's wrist. "What's this?" he demanded, pointing at the slender silver ring on her finger.

"What? It's _not_ a skin dye ring, if that's what you're thinking!" Paninya said indignantly, and a little guiltily.

I blinked in confusion. "Paninya's fond of pranks," Marta informed me.

Paninya heaved a sigh and slipped off the ring. "Sorry, I just couldn't resist! I love changing people's skin color!" She held out her hand again, and I eyed it suspiciously.

"Don't worry, my hand's prank-free this time," Paninya assured me.

I hesitantly shook her hand, but nothing happened to me, so I relaxed a little. "So, how can I help you?" Paninya asked as she stuck the ring in her back pocket.

"White-out," Roy said.

Paninya blinked. "Oh, really? By who?"

"Ed."

"Ah, jeez, seriously?" Paninya rubbed her head, looking a little frustrated. "Then why is she here?"

Roy pointed accusingly at Marta, who had crossed her legs at the knee and propped herself up on her hands, looking totally at ease. "Man, you're a nuisance," Paninya said to Marta, who stuck out her tongue. "But whatever. So, what was your name again?"

"Winry."

"Winry...?"

"Rockbell," I supplied.

Paninya put a finger to her chin and gazed at the ceiling, as if trying to remember something. "Rockbell...Rockbell..." She walked over to the desk, shoved aside a stack of papers and test tubes, and lifted a thick spiral notebook. Opening it, she turned a large chunk of pages over and then began flipping them one at a time. "Now, let's see what we have here. R...Randall...Reyes...Rezunta...Richards? _Again_? Ah, here we are--Rockbell!"

My brow creased. "You've got some kind of file on me?" I said in surprise.

"Yep. Any and all white-outs have to be recorded, in case we need someone to get their memory back," Paninya supplied as she drew her finger down the page. "All righty, it says here that you did indeed have your memory wiped on Monday, at 3:28, and you lost the time period between 1:12 and 3:28. It's got Ed's signature right here."

"Yeah, he showed up around five to fill out one of the forms," Roy said.

Paninya slapped the notebook shut with a decisive thud, making me jump. "Okay! Then come over here and sit down, and I'll have you fixed up in a jiffy!" she announced to me, waving grandly at the navy armchair.

"Would there happen to be anything under the seat?" Roy asked suspiciously.

"Not this time! You cleaned all my butt-bump sacks out from under it, remember?"

Marta snickered. "You should've seen Roy's behind," she said to me.

"LET'S NOT DISCUSS IT," Roy growled.

I eyed the chair warily before sitting down in it as slowly as I could. Nothing happened to my rear, but I sat on the edge of the armchair anyway, just in case. Paninya went back to the desk, put the notebook down, and checked one of the tube racks before grabbing a vial with what looked like the darkest molasses in the world in it. She came back over to me. "Okay, so do you remember any sensations just before you got the white-out? Ears popping, eyes watering, anything like that?"

"Um..." I concentrated, trying to dredge up what had happened just before I returned to reality on the library's stairs. "I think...my ears did pop. And...something with my eyes and fingers?"

Paninya uncorked the vial, and a smell like slightly sour milk wafted into the air. "Okay, good enough," she said.

Marta took the opportunity to jump off my shoulder, slide down my chest, and land on my lap. "I don't want to be any closer to that stinky crap," she announced before jumping down to my shoe.

Paninya whipped a dropped out of nowhere and stuck it in the bottle. "Tilt your head back," she instructed. I did so, and she plopped a drop into each eye. It felt like saltwater, but not as irritable. She then told me to tilt my head to each side and put drops in my ears. Lastly, she had me hold up my hands and put a drop under each fingernail. "Now, give the stuff a few seconds to dry, and then you should get your memories back. Okey doke?"

"Should?" I repeated.

"Yeah, that or..."

"Grow extras eyes, ears, and fingernails," Roy supplied.

"That was the old batch!" Paninya snapped. "This one just has funny side effects like extreme levitation and inability to breathe oxygen! Jeez!"

I paled. "Um..."

"But that's not all that common!" Paninya assured me cheerfully.

Roy snorted.

I waited, as Paninya instructed me. The cold wetness in my ears and under my nails quickly faded away. I blinked, expecting everything to come tumbling back, but I was as clueless as I had been.

"So...when does it kick in?" I asked after about a minute or so.

"What? It didn't work?" Paninya's brows scrunched, and she examined the vial. "That's odd...but I used it exactly like I was supposed to...the mix was right and everything." She turned and headed back to the desk, continuing the conversation with herself.

"Sometimes it takes a little longer than expected for it to take effect," Roy said. "You might as well head home."

"What a waste of time," Marta sighed as she climbed back up my side and perched on my shoulder.

I blinked and looked at Paninya, but she seemed to have completely dismissed all the other occupants of the room as she flipped through a book and made notations on her arm.

"Come on," Roy said, "I'll walk you out."

Marta was right. This _had_ been a waste of time.

* * *

Say thanks to my sister, who wrote half of this chapter. See you next time!


	5. The Fantastic Normalcy Of The Elrics

Hello! I'm back. And it's time to continue...woo...

Anyhow, many thanks to **D3athrav3n, Orange Singer, Synneofthesun, tiggeranddash, Took-Baggins**, and **Bar-Ohki** for the kind review. Responses necessary are as follows:

**D3ath**: I always liked Paninya, so I just had to stick her in. I'm glad I don't have any plot holes, yay! I know how it is to proofread your stuff like a maniac and still miss that one typo, though. It sucks!  
**Orange**: Does it? Now I want to watch the movies...  
**Synne**: Zilo's sister says no problem! And the action resumes, trust me!  
**tigger**: Well, some of those questions will be answered now. SOME WILL LINGER IN OBSCURITY...for a little while, at least.

CHAPTER TIME! SORRY FOR THE UNEVENTFULNESS LAST TIME, BUT SOMETIMES IT CAN'T BE HELPED, I THINK. WE RESUME EXCITING STUFF! ...HOPEFULLY!

* * *

_Dear Grandma:_

_Well, this may sound odd, but guess what happened to me recently? I lost a chunk of my memory from Monday, and it turns out the legally blind kid Edward did it to me on purpose. This woman half the size of a Barbie doll, named Marta, showed me this place where these people Roy and Paninya live. Paninya put some weird black stuff in my eyes and ears and under my nails, which was supposed to make me recover my memories, but nothing happened. So they just sent me home._

_Other than that, everything's going swimmingly. How's the shop? Is Den behaving himself?_

* * *

**5: The Fantastic Normalcy Of The Elrics**

As if I would send _that_ letter. I balled it up and tossed it in my wastebasket, then turned off my desk lamp and went to bed. Marta made herself comfortable on my pillow.

"Maybe when I wake up, I'll find out this was all just an elaborate dream," I said, openly voicing my hopes.

"That's what they all say," Marta said, pulling some of the slack in the pillow's case over her as a cover. "Once you get used to it, it won't be so bad."

"Maybe, but why do I have to get used to it?" I asked. "Why did you start following me around? Why not just let that jerk Ed wipe my memory of the whole thing?"

Marta yawned. "What fun is that?" she asked. "Besides, some people are just born to see the other side of the coin."

"Don't go giving me a speech about this being my destiny," I warned. "I don't want to hear it."

"Okay, I won't," Marta said in a just-because-I-don't-say-it-doesn't-mean-it's-not-true tone.

I sighed and pulled the covers over my head.

* * *

My dream about riding giant spiders through a desert was interrupted by someone knocking on the bedroom door. I blinked my eyes open as I drowsily returned to reality.

"_Winry? Are you up?_"

It was Roze. I rubbed my eyes and yawned, sitting up. "_There's someone here to see you,_" Roze went on. "_Are you awake?_"

Someone to see me? I yawned again and got out of bed. Crossing over to the door, I pulled it open. Roze, dressed in a white shirt and jeans under a green mini-jacket, smiled at me. "Good morning!"

"Morning," I said. "You said someone was here for me?"

Roze nodded. "Edward Elric's little brother, Alphonse."

My brows scrunched. Edward had a little brother? "Okay, I'll be out in a sec," I said.

"Okay. Noa's already gone, and I'm heading out in a few minutes, so don't get up to anything, all right?" Roze said, winking.

I rolled my eyes. "Hardly, Roze." I closed the door.

Five minutes later, I was dressed in a black zip-up top and jeans. I pulled my hair into its usual high ponytail and headed out the door.

"Wait for me." I turned, and a tiny woman jumped on my foot, crawled up my pants leg, and deposited herself in my pocket. I stared at her, shocked and confused, until I remembered who she was. "Oh--Marta."

Marta waved a hand. "Get going, dum--Winry."

I made my way out of my room and down the hall. So, Edward had a younger brother named Alphonse? Didn't I already know that? I'd met him in very strange circumstances, hadn't I?

When I got to the living room, I hadn't been able to figure out what the strange circumstances were. Roze was chatting with a bronze-haired boy wearing a short-sleeved dress shirt and jeans, but when she saw me, she stood up. "I'll see you at 4, okay Winry?" she said to me.

"Okay," I agreed, nodding.

Roze waved and left, and I turned to face the boy. "So you're...Alphonse Elric, right?"

The boy, or Alphonse, nodded, looking nervous and guilty. "Yes, that's me. You met me on Monday."

"I did?" I tried to think, but I had no idea of when that would have been.

_Monday? What did I do Monday? Let's see...I started looking for a job...I went to a fast-food place..._

Suddenly it all came back. With a vengeance.

I gasped and pointed at Alphonse. "You! I found you in the slide! You were covered in dirt, and that frigid woman was looking for you! Then I helped you escape, and you ate some pill and turned into a cat..."

As I went on, Alphonse looked guiltier and guiltier. I now remembered why. "You and your brother wiped my memory!" I exclaimed angrily. "You jerks! How dare you!"

"No, please listen!" Alphonse exclaimed. "Brother only did it because he has to! There's not many people we can trust to keep the Abnormal occurrences a secret!"

"You could have asked!" I said angrily. "Instead of messing with my mind!"

"I know, and I'm sorry," Alphonse said, sounding earnest. "I really am. I didn't want to--"

"Then you _shouldn't_ have!"

"Please try to understand! It's difficult for Brother to help keep everything balanced. Sometimes when people learn about weird things, they go running to the media, wanting to make some money. To keep it all a secret, Brother has to take drastic measures sometimes. The things you saw can't become public knowledge," Alphonse explained.

"Why not?" I asked, still mad.

Alphonse sighed heavily. "Because then this side of the world would pick it apart, start digging and experimenting and trying to figure everything out. You know what I mean, don't you? It's like in a movie where someone finds out they've got some strange power, and they don't let on because they don't want to become a lab rat."

I considered. What he was saying seemed to make sense. I began to calm down a little. "What do you mean 'this side of the world'? Are we talking some kind of sci-fi parallel universe here?"

"In a way, I guess," Alphonse said. He realized that I wasn't as steamed anymore and relaxed a little. "It's more like a coin. There's one side that's face-up, heads, right? Central is heads. Everything Abnormal could be considered tails. It's a city hidden in a city."

"What, underground?"

"Some parts. Other parts are just secret places in buildings, or hidden areas in parks, places like that."

I heaved a sigh, releasing a good chunk of my anger. "And that cold woman? She's from the 'tails' side?"

Alphonse nodded. "She's an Abnormal. So was that shape-shifting pill you saw me eat."

"So Abnormal is a race? Or a thing?"

"Abnormal is anything that belongs on the other side," Alphonse told me. "A person, a place, a thing. Anything that's not normal is Abnormal."

"That sounds confusing." I considered this also, then hit on a thought. "Why are you telling me all this anyway? ...Are you going to wipe my memory again?!"

"No, no!" Alphonse said hastily, waving his hands. "You visited Paninya last night, right?"

I nodded. "But how did you--"

"It's in the records book." Alphonse displayed an old-looking notebook. "It's just that I really appreciate how you helped me escape Lust before, even though you didn't know what was going on. I thought you deserved the truth."

"But I'm not supposed to know, right?" I pointed out, hands on my hips. "So why tell me? Why not just leave me in the dark?"

"Because I think you can be trusted," Alphonse said firmly. "From the moment you hid me from Lust, I thought that maybe it would be all right if you knew about Abnormal things. I wish I could have talked to Brother more before he had your memory erased, and maybe changed his mind so you didn't have to go through what you did to get Monday afternoon back."

My hands dropped to my sides. "Oh," I said.

"Yes!" Marta pulled herself out of my pocket and climbed up my arm to get to my shoulder. I glanced at her, and Alphonse looked surprised. "I thought you might be coming to redo the job," she said to Alphonse, "at which point I'd lay the smackdown on you. But if the dum--Winry here gets to keep her memories, _and_ she gets to learn more stuff, I might have some fun after all!"

"Hey, this isn't about fun!" I told her. "It sounds serious!"

Marta snorted. "You Bigs are all about being so serious. I say lighten up!"

"Um, hello," Alphonse said politely, a bewildered look on his face. "I don't think I've met you."

"Name's Marta," Marta said, getting into a comfortable position on my shoulder. "I'm just your average girl looking for some adventure. So I started tagging along with this girl. Lucky I did, too. Man, I really know how to pick 'em!"

"Look, this isn't some fun book where everything works out great. It's serious," I told her.

A ringing noise interrupted our conversation. I looked around, but Alphonse just checked his pocket and pulled out a cellphone. "Oh--it's Brother," he said, sliding it open and putting it to his ear. "Hello?"

Marta rolled her eyes and made a slashing motion across her tiny throat. I glared at her.

"Oh, no, it's nothing...Yes, I took it back to them, why?...Um, I'm at, uh, Winry's...I know! I know! But before you finish that, just listen, Brother!...Yes I did, and I knew you'd call...Well she went to Paninya in the first place. We can't just keep wiping her memory! That's unhealthy!...Well, _I_ think she can be trusted. We can't assume everyone's dangerous, Brother...It's too late. I already told her a whole lot, so unless Envy's willing to...I'm not a little kid, Brother. I can make decisions too...That's out of the question as far as I'm concerned. You're so pessimistic, Brother!...Right now, stubborn is the same as pessimistic...Listen, Brother, if you're not willing to bend on this one...Fine! I will!...That too! I'll bring her over right now!" Alphonse hung up and turned to me. "Would you mind accompanying me to my house?"

I blinked. "Your house? I thought it was being guarded by those Abnormal people posing as gardeners?"

"Oh, yeah, that. As it turned out, we got a weekly lawn person after I was kidnapped." Alphonse looked sheepish. "Funny, huh?"

* * *

So, Alphonse escorted me thirteen crosswalks and two left turns away, to his house. This time, however, we weren't expecting evil Abnormal people, and Marta had made herself at home in my tote bag.

As we walked, I asked Alphonse questions about the whole Abnormal deal. According to him, there are certain people who are assigned to keep all Abnormal activities under the radar. His brother is one of them. Anyone on the "heads" side of Central who saw or heard something Abnormal, other than the authorized few, would have their memories wiped like mine. The process of memory-wiping was affectionately called a "white-out" because of how everything turned white when you lost your memory, like the goop with the same name.

Alphonse was kidnapped in late March by a group of Abnormals who were trying to get power, or money, or love, or one of those things that cause people to become evil. They were ransoming him, trying to get whatever it was from Edward. He wasn't budging, and had been spending all this time trying to find his brother. Alphonse, meanwhile, had been carefully biding his time, getting his captors to sort of trust him, so he could make a break for it. He crawled through an Abnormal portal, which led into the slide at the fast-food joint I had decided to eat at.

"So...Abnormals aren't _ever_ supposed to be on this side of Central?" I asked as he entered the block where Alphonse's house was.

"No, it's not like that," Alphonse said. "Abnormals come and go through this side of Central all the time. If they look human enough, they'll even have jobs and friends on this side, and live like regular humans."

"Unless they're noticeably different like yours truly," Marta piped up. "I like to sneak around when nobody's looking, and watch people. It's how I found you, du--Winry."

I considered. "Well, this is still kind of hard for me to grasp, but...I guess the proof's right in front of me. I saw you turn into a cat just by eating some pill. Speaking of which, do you just carry those around with you?"

Alphonse smiled. "Usually just one or two," he said, "in case I get in a tight squeeze. I was a little hasty the last time, though. I guess it was being a prisoner for so long."

We stopped in front of his house. The weekly gardener person wasn't there. A white minivan was in the funneled driveway. "Who's home?" I asked.

"My mom," Alphonse said. "She didn't let me out of her sight for two days when I got back."

"Does she know?" I asked.

Alphonse nodded, which surprised me. In all the books I had read and movies I had watched, kids in the big city with something unusual to hide didn't tell their parents.

I followed Alphonse up the sidewalk to his front door. He pulled out a key and opened the door, stepping to the side so I could walk in first. I carefully wiped my shoes on the welcome mat, then stepped inside.

The house was nice. I could tell that from the fact that it had a foyer--something I had never seen in a house in real life. The foyer floor was polished hardwood, and there was a door to the immediate left that I guessed was a coat closet. I could see staggered doorways and openings on either side up ahead, where the foyer shrank to a hall, and there were stairs and a back door at the seemingly distant end.

"What a nice house," I said.

"Thanks!" Alphonse said as he closed the door behind me. "Brother's probably in his room. Mom?" Here he raised his voice. "I'm home!"

I thought I heard a very faint reply, but I wasn't sure. Alphonse took off his shoes and put them on a long mat pushed up against the wall to the right, where several other pairs of shoes were neatly lined up. I quickly followed suit, and we walked through the foyer and down the hall in our socks. I was tempted to run and see if I could slide across the hardwood, but I restrained myself.

Alphonse poked his head into a doorway on the right, and I stood on my tiptoes and poked my head in over his. What I saw nearly made my eyes bug out of my head.

A woman with green eyes and long brown hair pulled into a loose ponytail over her shoulder stood in a large kitchen, her profile to us. She was currently making what looked like a lunch for twenty, with at least three courses. I saw something cooking on all four burners of the stove, and it appeared the oven was on as well. But the thing that shocked me the most was that, while the woman read from a cookbook, items levitated out from the fridge and onto counters. Spoons were mixing things in bowls. Whatever was cooking in the pots was being stirred by utensils. Something sizzling in a pan was being flipped by a spatula. Every once in a while, a dishrag would come off the bar on the fridge and wipe up a spill. Empty plastic and packages marched across counters to the trash can, which opened itself to invite them in.

All of these things were being done by themselves. No one was touching the utensils, the trash, the rag, the floating food, no one. The woman was mildly turning pages in her cookbook, like her kitchen wasn't running itself.

"What in the seven circles of hell?" I found myself saying.

"Oh!" Alphonse laughed sheepishly. "Sorry. I guess I'm just so used to how Mom makes meals that I forgot how weird it must look."

"Weird? Try _fantastically unbelievable_," I corrected him, still watching the scene. The amazing thing was that nothing went wrong. Nothing burned, nothing spilled (not much, and when the rare mess happened, here came the self-propelled rag), nothing dropped out of mid-air. It was all so controlled, like a gaggle of invisible chefs were preparing lunch.

The woman heard us talking and turned. She smiled. "Alphonse, hello! And who's this?"

Alphonse stepped into the kitchen. I almost didn't dare move, as if my movement would throw off the balance or something. "This is Winry, the girl I told you about," Alphonse said to her. He turned to me. "Winry, this is my mom, Trisha."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Winry," Trisha said warmly.

"Ahm...likewise," I said, my eyes fixed on a bag of hamburger buns dancing through the air. The oven opened itself, and something that had been baking in a pan flew out smoothly and settled on the divider between the two kitchen sinks.

Trisha's eyes twinkled with amusement. "I can pretty much tell what you're thinking," she said. "I know it must be a shock to see something like this, but it's a normal day in the Elric household."

I rubbed my eyes with the side of my hand. "It's just--when I came to the big city, sure I was expecting it to be different from home, but this is almost too much," I said. "It just feels like a really crazy dream!"

Trisha didn't seem offended or concerned about my thought process. "When a person sits down and thinks about it, that seems like the best estimation," she agreed as the activity in the kitchen slowly wound down. "But just because you've never seen something occur doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

Apparently that was Central's motto. I nodded dumbly.

"You're both just in time," Trisha said. "Lunch will be ready in a few minutes. Why don't you go and fetch Edward? He's upstairs."

"Okay," Alphonse said, turning and walking out. "Come on, Winry, you can see some more of the house."

I just nodded again and followed him to the stairs. "How did she do that?" I asked.

"Oh. It's a long story, but the short version is that a few years ago, Mom had a tonic accidentally spilled on her which gave her the power of multiple telekinesis," Alphonse explained. "Now, Mom's so used to it that it's just like she has a few dozen extra hands to do things."

"So...she does everything like that?"

Alphonse shook his head. "No. When she leaves the house, she doesn't use it, of course, because it's Abnormal. We're always careful to keep our Abnormal activities inside the house, unless it's an emergency. Having to white-out the whole neighborhood's no fun."

I pretended like I knew exactly how that felt. I fell silent for a moment as we climbed the stairs, looking over the family pictures that were on the wall parallel to the stair's railing. Most of them had younger versions of Ed, Al, and Trisha in them, but two or three had a man who looked like an older version of Edward, with hair and eyes the same color, only he had a beard.

"Is that your dad?" I asked.

"Uh-huh," Alphonse said. "His name was Hohenheim."

"Was? He's..."

Alphonse turned and smiled at me. "Well, he's not dead, I don't think, but we haven't seen him in years. I think that he's still being held somewhere on the other side of Central, but Mom and Brother have pretty much given up hope. We don't talk about it."

"Oh. I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean to bring it up."

"It's no problem." By this time, we had reached the top of the stairs. Alphonse led me to the first door on the right, which had a very strange symbol painted on it, and knocked. "Brother? It's me. I've got Winry with me."

Silence. I examined the symbol while we waited for a response. It looked like a cross with a snake winding around it. Above the snake and cross floated two stylized wings and a crown.

Alphonse knocked again. "Brother?"

The door slammed open, making us both jump. Edward stood behind it, wearing a long-sleeved red shirt with black-striped sleeves, jeans, house socks, and a pretty frightening scowl. His glasses were perched on his head, and his hair was in a low ponytail instead of a braid.

I felt a desire to hide behind Alphonse.

"How did you find out about Paninya?" was his greeting, and I realized it was aimed at me.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Marta beat me to it. "I told her. Got a problem with it, Blondie?" Even perched on the edge of my tote bag and having to look up, somehow she was still intimidating in her own right.

Edward glanced down at her, then looked back up at me. Alphonse had recovered by this time. "Brother, don't be mean to Winry. It's our fault that she was pulled into this."

"It's not our fault she remembered any of it, either," Edward replied.

"I resent that!" I butted in hotly. "You think I don't have a right to retain my memories or something?"

"Not when it involves Abnormal!" Edward told me. "It's my job to keep all Abnormal things from becoming public knowledge."

"I understand that, all right?" I snapped. "I'm not going to tell anyone, so stop biting my head off!"

Edward looked almost taken aback at this, then he grew suspicious. "So you're _not_ going to spread this around town?"

"No! And you could have asked instead of forcing amnesia on me! I get the whole 'keep it a secret' deal, all right?!"

"Brother, I tried to tell you that twice," Alphonse reminded him.

Edward glared at both of us in turn, even throwing in a glare at Marta, who glared back, and finally heaved a big sigh. "Well, I guess there's only one thing to do now. So listen. If you want to keep your memories this time around, there's something you've got to do for me."

"What?" I asked, starting to release my anger a little.

"It's a way that we can be sure we can trust you."

I lifted my chin. It sounded like some sort of initiation. If I had to do it to make sure nobody whited me out again, then I would. "All right, I'll do it."

"I didn't even tell you what it was," Edward said, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't care. I'll do it anyway. I'm not getting my memory wiped again."

For the first time in a while, Edward broke into a smile. The tension mercifully eased. "Okay, then," he said, standing to the side, "everybody in."

* * *

Smack! The chapter's over. Crinkle! Reviews are welcome! Pow! See you next time!


	6. A Vial Thought

Ohayo! Many thanks to **Took-Baggins, Orange Singer, D3athrav3n, Bar-Ohki, Phantom SunsSong**, and **tiggeranddash** for le reviews! Responses below…

**Took, Orange,** and **Bar-Ohki**: You know I love to hear your guesses, but me can tell you little! Edward is blind according to the laws of the regular world, and technically Trisha has been made into an Abnormal like her sons. Keep the guesses coming!  
**D3ath**: Good question. I suppose it'll be more anime-based since I'm more familiar with the anime, but some manga stuff might end up sneaking in there, I don't know yet!  
**Phantom**: I'm glad you started reviewing, though, so I know you're there! Yes, Envy will show up…in this chapter, actually! And your other question will be answered also. I'm glad I can keep you guessing, I hear that's the mark of a good authoress!  
**tigger**: Winry's got to be curious though, right? Or maybe she plans revenge, heheh…

* * *

_Edward glared at both of us in turn, even throwing in a glare at Marta, who glared back, and finally heaved a big sigh. "Well, I guess there's only one thing to do now. So listen. If you want to keep your memories this time around, there's something you've got to do for me."_

_"What?" I asked, starting to release my anger a little._

_"It's a way that we can be sure we can trust you."_

_I lifted my chin. It sounded like some sort of initiation. If I had to do it to make sure nobody whited me out again, then I would. "All right, I'll do it."_

_"I didn't even tell you what it was," Edward said, raising an eyebrow._

_"I don't care. I'll do it anyway. I'm not getting my memory wiped again."_

_For the first time in a while, Edward broke into a smile. The tension mercifully eased. "Okay, then," he said, standing to the side, "everybody in."_

* * *

**6: A Vial Thought**

"Brother, it's almost lunchtime," Alphonse said as we stepped into the room. "We don't have time for this."

"We'll make time," Edward replied, sitting down in a desk chair.

I looked around the room. It was big, about twice as big as mine at Noa's place, and surprisingly neat. The window was wide open, letting a blinding amount of sunlight in. It looked like a normal bedroom, except for the desk. There was a desktop computer on it, shoved unceremoniously to the back to make room for a setup not unlike Paninya's. Beakers full of liquid, tons of spiral notebooks that looked well-used, loose papers in messy stacks, and an open box of pens covered every inch of the desk.

Curious, I looked down at one of the loose notes. It was some sort of strange, round design. There were arrows pointing at specific parts, and notes in an almost unintelligible handwriting accompanying the arrows.

Before I could try and decipher the chicken scratch handwriting, Edward picked up the piece of paper. "Something Abnormal," he told me, placing it facedown on one of the stacks. "It doesn't matter right now."

I heaved a sigh and leaned against the desk, ignoring the other loose pieces of paper. "So what's this thing you want me to do to prove I'm trustworthy?" I asked him.

"It's simple." Edward reached towards one of the vial racks and pulled out a glass cylinder with a cork in one end, half filled with a liquid the color of peas-and-carrots barf. "Keep this with you for two days. Don't let anybody see it, and don't open it." He turned the vial around so I could see the column of lines going down one side. "I'll know if you use any."

He held it out to me, and I took it. The liquid inside was warm enough that I could feel it through the glass. I looked at the bottle curiously. Marta climbed up into the crook of my elbow so she could check it out. "What's in it?" I asked.

"I'm not going to tell you that unless you keep this safe for me for two days," Edward said. "Give it back on Saturday."

"That's all?" Marta said incredulously. "She can do that easy."

I nodded. "That doesn't seem all that hard," I said. "I can definitely do that."

Edward frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe you can, maybe you can't," he said.

Alphonse breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, good. I thought you were going to have her look for the--"

"Maybe next time." Edward stood. "Now you said lunch was ready?"

* * *

Being the polite one, Alphonse invited me and Marta to lunch. We accepted, since I figured they had more than enough. As it turned out, all three of the Elrics had very healthy appetites. Even Trisha had a fifth helping of food. And don't get me started on how much food Edward and Alphonse ate. Comparing my plate to theirs, I felt like I was dieting.

"I can guess what you're thinking," Trisha said with that twinkling look in her eyes again. "We eat a lot, don't we?"

"Well, I wasn't going to say anything..." I said.

"_I_ was," Marta commented from where she sat crosslegged on the table, eating off my plate.

Alphonse laughed. "Well, we've all had exposure to Abnormal chemicals, which has a really big effect on metabolism," he explained.

Edward was too busy stuffing his face to add anything.

"Wow," I couldn't help but say. "And it doesn't bother you guys at all? I mean, all the weird stuff--or Abnormal, whatever?"

"Not really," Alphonse said.

"Not anymore," Edward added, his mouth temporarily empty.

Some of the dirty plates floated over to the sink. "We've gotten so used to Abnormalities, they're like a part of life for us," Trisha said. "A secret part, but part nonetheless."

"Has it always been like this?" I asked.

"For me it has," Trisha said. "I grew up in a line of Order-Keepers. My husband also. We got married and, for a little while, we kept the boys out of it. But eventually Edward and Alphonse became an active part as well."

"Sometimes it's dangerous, but it's never boring," Alphonse said with a little laugh.

I was aware of the vial of puke-looking stuff in my tote bag. How odd to think that the first time I visited a big city, it would turn out to be so unlike all the others? Unless... "Are all big cities like this? With the two sides thing and the Abnormal stuff?"

"There are some," Trisha said, "but they're few and far between. I personally have only been to one other city with two sides."

"But it's still possible that Abnormal things could be everywhere, right?"

Alphonse, Edward, and Trisha shared a glance. "It's possible," Trisha agreed.

"We don't know, and we might never know, but it could be," Alphonse said.

"Most likely though, they're not," Edward finished.

More dishes moved from the table to the sink. "Winry," Trisha said, leaning forward a bit, "my sons may have already stressed this, but knowledge about Abnormalities needs to be kept in the utmost confidence. We really can't have people on this side of Central learning about it."

"I know," I said, "and I swear on my toolbox that I won't breathe a word about it to anyone." Anyone who knew me well knew that if I swore on my toolbox, my words were as binding to me as a written contract, and going back on it was forbidden in my case.

Of course, the Elrics, not knowing me, didn't get it. "Your toolbox?" Edward repeated.

"Yes. If I swear on my toolbox, then it's as serious as I'm going to get," I told him.

* * *

Later on in the day, Edward and Alphonse walked me home. I was still a little miffed at Edward about the whole white-out thing, but I was trying to make myself understand that he wasn't doing it just to be mean to me. He was doing his job.

"You guys aren't worried that that weird woman and her cohorts will try and nab Al again?" I asked.

Edward shook his head. "If any of them show up again, we'll be ready this time."

"Don't worry," Alphonse said, smiling sunnily at me.

Noa's car was in the driveway, so I knew she was home. I said goodbye to Edward and Alphonse at the door, and, ensuring that the vial was tucked safely in the bottom of my tote, and that Marta was carefully hidden under the flap, I pulled out the house key and unlocked the door.

"I'm back!" I called as I stepped in.

Noa's head appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. "Welcome back," she said with a smile. "You're just in time. Dinner will be ready soon."

"Really?" I checked my watch and saw that it was close to 7:30. "Oh, wow, I didn't realize how time got by me."

"Found some friends?" Noa guessed as she stuck her head back in the kitchen.

"Something like that." I headed upstairs to deposit all my stuff in my room. Across the hall from my door, I could hear what sounded like typing coming from behind Roze's door, which was open a crack.

I went into my room and closed the door behind me before sitting my tote bag on the bed. Marta instantly climbed out and jumped down to my bed.

"Try to keep out of sight, in case anyone walks in unexpectedly," I told her as I fished the vial out of my tote.

Marta rolled her eyes. "Oh, like I've been living so precariously before," she said sarcastically. "I've been laying low my whole life, dummy, in case you forgot."

I ignored her and pulled open the drawers of my desk, looking for a good hiding place for the vial. I found one in a drawer with some spare parts from my project. I carefully slid the vial through a small opening and artfully stacked other pieces of scrap metal over it like a shelter, without putting pressure on the glass. Then I rearranged the unused pieces. When I was done, it looked like I had thrown everything inside without a second thought. When I needed to get the vial out on Saturday, I just had to lift the L-shaped piece supporting the "roof" of the shelter and slide it right out. It was ingenious.

* * *

That night, I awoke suddenly from another weird dream about building my own giant robot, which started attacking the planet. I shifted in bed, wondering what had woken me up. I could sense Marta's presence close by, and realized she must have gotten onto the pillow again. I glanced over and just barely saw her tiny head peeking out from a fold in the pillowcase.

Moving my eyes allowed my peripheral vision to catch something out of place at my window. I focused my full attention on it and realized with a sinking feeling that it was unlocked and slightly raised from its base. Realizing I wasn't alone, I quietly scanned the room until my eyes fell on a dark figure by my desk, opening drawers.

_Uh-oh._

As quickly and quietly as I could, I reached under my pillow for my spare wrench. It wasn't as big as the one I usually carried around, but it would have to do. I knew that there were burglars in the big city, but I hadn't expected one to break into my room. I didn't have anything that burglars usually steal--no jewelry, electronics, or priceless pieces of art passed down from my dead great-uncle or something.

But that didn't mean I'd let this burglar get off scot-free. I pushed back the covers, trying to keep from making noise, and moved my feet onto the floor. Careful not to squash Marta, I pushed myself out of bed.

There was a rattling, like metal pieces falling against one another, and then the burglar lifted something over his head, as if to inspect it. A chill ran up my spine when I realized he held the vial.

Just great. The first night and I could end up failing Edward's stupid trust test.

With no hesitation I reared my wrench back, stepped into my swing, an aimed a home-run-worthy swipe at the burglar's head. I thought I had been perfectly stealthy, but the burglar swiftly dodged underneath my swinging wrench. I didn't give up but instead swung again. The wrench glanced off his wrist, enough to make his hold on the vial loosen.

I lunged for the vial, my fingers wrapping around it. The burglar recovered at this point and tried to yank it from my hand, but I was ready. As soon as I had a good grip on it I leaned backwards with all my might, trying to pull the vial away. The burglar, however, didn't let go, and we both fell backwards. The backs of my knees hit my bed, and I fell on my back. The burglar fell on top of me. His hair swept downwards and tickled my face and bare arms. It was really long. Maybe it was a woman?

"Hands off!" I yelled at him, still trying to snatch the vial back.

The burglar said nothing to me but continued to try and wrench the vial from my hands. I lifted my wrench and managed to get a clean hit off his shoulder. He faltered, and I used all my strength to snatch the vial back. Unfortunately, I used a little too much strength, and just pulled the cork out. The peas-and-carrots barf splashed down onto my face and shoulders.

The burglar gasped. I did too, which earned me a mouthful of the stuff. I had been expecting it to taste how it looked, but kind of reminded me of those fruit-flavored waters, only the fruit flavor was really weak. A smell like pencil shavings rose from the liquid as it ran down my skin and started to drip onto my blanket.

"Oh no...oh _damn_!" the burglar hissed in a feminine voice, which surprised me. It must have been a woman after all.

However, any thoughts of the burglar's gender were driven from my mind when the liquid started to burn. It was from zero to prolonged bleach exposure in less than a second. At first I was stunned. Then I started to scream as it felt like my skin was melting off.

"Damn!" the burglar hissed, yanking me upwards into a sitting position. I frantically tried to rub the liquid off, keeping my eyes squeezed shut so it wouldn't leak in and dissolve my eyeballs away. The pain grew worse, and I couldn't help but scream in pain.

"Winry!" I heard Marta exclaim in a slightly sleepy voice. "What's--oh God, what happened? Hey! Hey!"

I heard rustling on either side of me, and the blanket was yanked out from under me. Then it was wrapped around the top half of my body, muffling my screams and hindering my attempts to wipe the liquid off. I squirmed in my prison, writhing mostly from the pain but partially from being confined. My wrench had been wrapped up with me, I supposed accidentally, and its coolness against my arm was a sharp contrast to the burning pain on my face, neck, arms, hands, and the inside of my mouth, where the vial's liquid had made contact.

Suddenly, I was swept up into a pair of arms that felt relatively strong. I kicked and flailed, trying to get free, trying to get out of the blanket so I could wipe the stuff off. If it was possible, the pain got worse, and I squeezed my eyes as tightly as I could. A sharp metallic smell hit my nostrils, and I felt my stomach turn. Was that my own blood I was smelling?

I was in such agonizing pain that I hoped I was going to pass out soon. I couldn't take much more of it. I sensed that whoever was carrying me was now moving, running, but I didn't care. All I cared about was that I was in pain, and I wanted it to stop. I felt a strange darkness at the corners of my mind, as if I were sleepy, but how could that be? I was feeling my skin get dissolved off like I had dived into a pool of bleach.

_Oh, please, let that be the part where I pass out..._

I tried to be still, to let the darkness suck me up, but my body moved on its own, still weakly trying to pull the blanket away so I could wipe off the stuff. My limbs jerked and twitched like I was being electrocuted, and I might have stopped screaming and started moaning. I wasn't sure. I started losing awareness of my surroundings, and the pain began to get numb. I was somehow able to connect that I was going into shock. It seemed like it should be a bad thing, but the more I lost touch with my surroundings, the more the pain lessened, so I was more than happy to let shock take over if unconsciousness wasn't going to show up.

_Please, just let me make it out of the shock. I don't want to turn into a vegetable, but I can't stand this pain! Please let this be over soon, oh please..._

At that point, all I could do was think, and so a million questions ran through my mind. Why had the burglar been after the vial? Had it been acid inside or something? Why hadn't I called for help instead of trying to bravely fight off the burglar myself? At least now I supposed that whoever was carrying me--which I had a strong suspicion it was the burglar--was taking me to a hospital or something. I wondered if I would be like those burn victims I've seen on TV, who have rough, blistery, multi-toned skin and no eyebrows and have to use a wheelchair. The ones who look like a plastic doll left facedown on a hot stove.

I hoped not. I liked my face.

I wasn't sure how much time had passed, but I had the vague sense that someone was calling to me. For a moment I thought it was my mother. Then I remembered she was dead, and got scared. Had I died? Was I going to be with my parents now?

But it wasn't her. It was some other woman, and I realized that I was slowly coming out of the fog of shock. I expected the pain to come rushing back, but to my relief it seemed to be gone.

Slowly, I felt myself returning to reality. I was lying down, in a bed it seemed, carefully covered up. Something cold and wet was lying across my forehead. I didn't feel any bandages wrapped around my skin. Wasn't that standard procedure of someone had all the skin of their top half melted off? Maybe they just gave me painkillers and left it at that.

I did know one thing. I was chilly, and all my joints were stiff. I scrunched my brow in an attempt to open my eyes, and when they finally complied, I found a blurry face looking back at me. I concentrated until the face came into focus, then realized I was starting into the warm green eyes of Trisha Elric.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

I blinked and realized that the pain was gone. I sat up, and racing fire didn't arch through my veins. The cold compress fell into my lap. I looked down at my hands, expecting to see something gruesome you might find at a crime scene, but they looked fine. I turned them over, but no missing skin greeted me.

My hands flew to my face and neck, but I felt nothing but my own smooth skin. No bumps, no burns, no gaping holes where skin should have been. I felt perfectly normal.

"But...all that burning...that wasn't just a dream, was it?" I said to no one in particular.

"Oh, you must mean when the potion spilled on you," Trisha said. "Yes, Envy said you got it on your face and shoulders, and then on your hands when you tried to wipe it away."

I glanced at her curiously. "Envy?" I repeated.

Trisha gestured to someone standing behind her, leaning against the wall. "He was the one who came to switch the vials."

I looked over at the figure and faintly felt my jaw drop. Trisha had referred to Envy as a "he", but if I had seen him on the street, I would have assumed he was a girl. His hair was indeed long, at least to his hips, and a strange dark green color, held back with a black headband. His eyes were in the same violet family as Lust the Winter Wonderwoman. He was wearing a black top that fit like a second skin under a massively baggy yellow T-shirt, neither of which made it past his ribs, and navy jeans with huge holes in the knees and thighs.

Despite his effeminate appearance, he was still good-looking in that cute, androgynous way like they use in manga and such. And at least, if he was going to wear such revealing clothes, he had a figure nice enough to show off. He sniffed a bit disdainfully at my staring.

The door next to him suddenly flew open, and would have smacked Envy in the face had he not moved away in time. Edward stood in the doorway, carrying what looked like a first-aid kit, a notebook, and a syringe. He had yet another scowl on his face, but it vanished when he saw me sitting upright. He moved out of the doorway and to my bedside, revealing Alphonse right behind him.

"You're awake!" Alphonse said in relief.

"How do you feel?" Edward asked.

"Like nothing really happened to me," I said, checking my hands again. "I could've sworn that stuff in the bottle dissolved my face off! Did I just dream that?"

Edward shook his head. "No, you didn't," he said. "The pain you felt was real. It was the feeling of the contents of the vial soaking through your skin and bonding to your blood cells."

"Wha-what?" I exclaimed. "Bonding with my...but wait! What does that mean?"

"Say ahhh," Trisha told me, a strange-looking thermometer floating near her head.

"But what's going on! I--"

My mouth opened itself, and in flew the thermometer. It stuck itself straight down my throat, and I gagged on it. "Mom, maybe you should have warned her," Alphonse said.

"It's easier if you don't know what's coming," Trisha said.

The thermometer was down my throat for only a second or so, but it felt like eternity. When it floated back out I had to cough a couple of times to get the gaggy feeling out of my throat. Trisha, meanwhile, checked the reading, and then showed it to Edward and Alphonse.

"Well, it's official," Edward said with a sigh, plopping down on the bed and turning to face me. "You've now got Abnormal attributes in your blood."

"I..._what_?"

"It means that in a few days or so, you'll manifest an ability," Alphonse explained. "Just like Mom and Brother."

* * *

Dum dum DUUUUUM! Winry's going to get a taste of the Abnormal!  
...Or will she? See you next time!


	7. Fun's Over

I FAILED A TEST SO I'M SAD. But anyway!

Many thanks to **Synneofthesun, D3athrav3n, Orange Singer, Unborn Hope, Took-Baggins**, and **Bar-Ohki** for prettypretty reviews! Now for pertinent responses!

**Synne**: Maybe, maybe not! We'll see, though, won't we?  
**D3ath**: There's a very good reason for where Envy is, but you'll have to wait and see on both counts! But I'm going to thank you early for helping me out with something! Won't tell you what, though!  
**Orange**: Questions, yay! Ed's sight is important, you'll see. Yeah, Al can do some stuff. And the answer to the third is explained below!  
**Unborn**: Me too! I like Envy. Maybe next time you visit the city. Don't give up... (bird poop is the evil)  
**Took**: Yep, poor Winry. But will it be blessed with bad, or cursed with good? Nope, not Paninya, but she'll be back anyway!  
**Bar-Ohki**: And so do I!

Okay, chappie time! Hooray!

* * *

_"How do you feel?" Edward asked._

_"Like nothing really happened to me," I said, checking my hands again. "I could've sworn that stuff in the bottle dissolved my face off! Did I just dream that?"_

_Edward shook his head. "No, you didn't," he said. "The pain you felt was real. It was the feeling of the contents of the vial soaking through your skin and bonding its cells with your blood cells."_

_"Wha-what?" I exclaimed. "Bonding with my...but wait! What does that mean?"_

_"Say ahhh," Trisha told me, a strange-looking thermometer floating near her head._

_"But what's going on! I--"_

_My mouth opened itself, and in flew the thermometer. It stuck itself straight down my throat, and I gagged on it. "Mom, maybe you should have warned her," Alphonse said._

_"It's easier if you don't know what's coming," Trisha said._

_The thermometer was down my throat for only a second or so, but it felt like eternity. When it floated back out I had to cough a couple of times to get the gaggy feeling out of my throat. Trisha, meanwhile, checked the reading, and then showed it to Edward and Alphonse._

_"Well, it's official," Edward said with a sigh, plopping down on the bed and turning to face me. "You've now got Abnormal attributes in your blood."_

_"I...what?"_

_"It means that in a few days or so, you'll manifest an ability," Alphonse explained. "Just like Mom, or Brother."_

* * *

**7: Fun's Over**

I stared at them. "You mean...I'm going to be able to move stuff with my _mind_?"

"Probably not," Trisha said with a laugh, "but you'll be able to do something Abnormal. What was in that vial, Edward?"

Edward shrugged. "It was a mixture of several things. Any one of them could show up after a few days."

"But not all of them, right?"

"Yeah."

I continued to stare. Several items from the first aid kit floated out, hovered for a few seconds, then put themselves back. I could only guess that Trisha was looking for something. Alphonse noticed my stunned expression and gave me a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Winry; we'll be here to help you."

"And I guess you don't have to prove yourself after all," Edward added. "Now _you've_ got something you'll need to keep secret too."

That statement snapped me out of my daze. "But this can't be!" I exclaimed. "What's going to happen? What am I going to be able to do?" I was nearly frantic. How had this happened? Was I really going to be doing something as impossible as Trisha's telekinesis? Or whatever Edward did with the memory thing?

"We won't know until it manifests," Trisha said, reaching out and putting a calming hand on my shoulder. "But getting worked up won't help matters."

"Where's Marta?" I demanded, now that we were on the subject of Abnormalities.

"She's asleep in the next room," Alphonse told me.

I looked around the room. For the first time it finally sunk in that I wasn't at Roze's. Envy, my burglar, must have brought me to the Elrics' when the peas-and-carrots barf spilled on me. There was a floor-lamp on, and the curtains were drawn over the window, so I guessed it was still dark out. I threw back the covers and swung my legs out of bed, nearly smacking Edward in the back.

"Where do you think you're going?" Edward demanded, looking as though he were going to push me back.

"Back to Roze's!" I stood up to my full height and glared down at him from where he sat on the bed. "Are you going to try and stop me?"

Edward glared back, but then heaved a sigh. "No, we won't, but you might want to put some pants on before you go barging out of the house."

I looked down and realized I was still in just my nightshirt. I blushed heavily and scrambled back into bed, quickly covering up. "Get me some pants!" I yelled in Edward's direction.

Edward, hiding what suspiciously looked like a snicker, left the room. Alphonse, who had covered his eyes, peeked out from behind them and then let his hand drop when he saw I was back in bed.

"Oh, by the way, here," he said, holding my wrench out to me.

I took it and looked down at it. It looked fine also, like nothing had happened. "Is the wrench going to manifest an ability too?" I asked sarcastically.

"I don't think so," Alphonse said, smiling sheepishly.

Trisha checked her watch. "Oh, I've got to go to work," she said, standing up. She gave me a warm smile. "Everything's going to be fine, Winry. You've got your own support group in us." Alphonse nodded enthusiastically at this.

"I'll see you guys this afternoon," she said, walking out. The door swung itself shut behind her.

"I should probably go too," Alphonse said. "I have work at Paninya's. You'll be okay with Brother and Envy taking you home?"

I nodded. Alphonse gave me a smile not unlike his mother's and left with a cheerful goodbye, manually closing the door behind himself.

So now I was left alone with Envy. I glanced at him and saw he hadn't moved from when he had stepped away from the door. His attention was on something I couldn't see that required him to tilt his head diagonally. The silence felt kind of oppressive, so I searched for a way to break it. I found a way in something Trisha had said to me when I first woke up.

"Envy, right?" I found myself saying. His eyes slid over to me, like I wasn't worth turning his whole head. "So...why did you have to switch the vials?"

He blinked twice, but said nothing, and didn't even alter his slightly bored expression. It was as if he couldn't muster up the effort to answer.

"Okay, Mr. Personality," I mumbled, crossing my arms and looking down at my poor wrench.

"Edward told me to."

The voice was just as effeminate as I remembered. I looked up, startled, to see that Envy hadn't moved a millimeter. Still looking at me in that sidelong way, he spoke again. "He was supposed to give you some harmless colored water, so something like this wouldn't happen. He botched it up and sent me to fix it."

"Why didn't you just say that?" I asked. "I would've given it to you."

"The goal was for you to think it was important," Envy replied.

My brow creased. "Why does Ed have to be so sneaky about everything? Can't he just say or do something straight up? What's all the intrigue for?"

"It's a part of his job," Envy said sharply, as if I had insulted his mother.

I instinctively pulled back a bit at his tone. "Okay, I'm sorry I asked. I just wondered."

Envy sighed, like my speaking was a nuisance.

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, I tried again. "So...you're an Abnormal?"

Envy did that sidelong glance thing again, and I felt like bonking him with my wrench. But this time, it didn't take him as long to answer. "Yeah," he said.

"Are you...do you know Lust?"

"Related," he replied.

It made sense. "Can you turn the temperature to freezing like her?" I asked.

"I erase memories," he answered, in a way that made it almost sound like a threat.

Just then Edward came back in. "Pants!" he yelled, flinging open the door. He held a pair of slim black jeans in one hand.

Envy saw them and pushed himself off the wall. "Those are _mine_," he said, sounding peeved.

"Shut up and buy more," Edward answered, tossing the pants to me. I fumbled them once and caught them. "The sun's just coming up, so Envy should be able to sneak you back into your room. Ready to go?"

"Now?" I said.

Marta, who I hadn't even noticed, jumped off Edward's shoulder and down onto the bed. "Yeah, before those people you're staying with notice," she said.

"They didn't notice my screams of _terror_?" I questioned.

Edward glanced quickly at Envy, who shrugged, the most movement I'd seen from him yet. "I used the sound barrier, just in case," he said.

"Oh," Edward said, relaxing. He turned back to me. "A sound barrier keeps others from hearing any noise from the inside. Like a soundproof booth. Nobody heard you."

That was definitely weird. I shrugged like I wasn't stunned. "Okay," I said.

* * *

So Edward and Envy escorted me back home. Envy tossed me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and swiftly climbed the side of the building. He pushed open my window and dumped me on the floor.

"Ow!" I yelled as my butt came in contact with the carpet.

Envy didn't apologize, or say anything, but simply shut my window and dropped out of sight. I got up, rubbing my sore bottom, and opened the window again. I glared down, a little surprised to see that Envy had already gotten to the ground. Ed waved at me before he and Envy started out of the parking lot, casual as could be.

I glanced over at the clock on the wall and saw that it wasn't even 8 AM. Walking to the door, I opened it and poked my head out into the hall. Roze's and Noa's doors were closed, and everything was quiet. They really hadn't heard a thing. I was amazed, and I quietly shut my door and went to sit on my bed.

"Man, this is so cool," Marta exulted, hopping off my shoulder and onto the bed. "Now you're gonna have an ability! I wonder what you'll do?"

Now that the painful part was over, I found myself wondering the same thing. Would it be something related to my personality or skills? Or would it be something completely out of the blue, like superspeed or something? Having something that would essentially be like a superpower excited me. This was what happened to kids in the big city, right? At least in the movies.

Marta was still talking. "...hope it's something useful, at least. Not, like, the ability to communicate with fruits or something dumb like that," she was saying.

"Communicate with _fruits_?" I repeated, a laugh in my voice. "That would be entirely useless, I think." I got up and made my way to the closet to pick out an outfit.

"Maybe," Marta said, sounding devious. "Unless..."

"Unless what?" I asked, picking out a blue-and-white-striped shirt.

"Unless you were in a produce store and somebody decided to hold it up for dough. You could tell the melons to gang rush him," Marta said, all with a straight face.

I glanced at her over my shoulder, and we both burst into laughter.

* * *

That day Marta and my borrowed pants stayed hidden in my tote while I hung out with Roze. Marta complained a little, but she was used to hiding from humans, so that wasn't a problem. I met a couple of Roze's friends, and we saw a movie. It was about a boy who moved to the big city and became the leader of a pack of superpowered animals that fought crime. It was kind of lame.

The second biggest problem of the day was my appetite. I ate before we left the house, halfway through the mall wandering, just before the movie, during the movie, and directly after the movie. It was like all the food and snacks I was eating were being sucked into a black hole. I was just so hungry, and everything looked tasty.

"Wow, you've got some appetite," Roze teased when I stopped yet again at a food stand.

"Yeah, I'm just..." I laughed nervously, unsure what to say.

"I'm jealous. If I ate like that my thighs would explode," Roze said, sounding wistful.

All I could do was laugh nervously as I paid for the three hotdogs and the slice of pizza. I finished off two of the hotdogs before we were even out of sight of the food stand.

"What do you want to do next?" Roze asked, checking her watch.

"You know what's around here; you decide," I said around the pizza.

So we did some more window-shopping and wandering around, chatting aimlessly. I dwindled the contents of my wallet some more, buying more food. I wanted to cry because I felt so greedy and ravenous. This was a really awful side-effect of the whole superpowers thing, and I wished it would go away.

"Oh, good, a bathroom," Roze said, seeing a sign hanging over a door. "I've really got to go."

"I'll wait out here," I offered.

Roze waved cheerfully as she hurried through the swinging door. I sat on a nearby bench and tried to ignore the rumblings in my stomach. I was _still_ hungry? This sucked.

I was so preoccupied with my hunger rumbles that I didn't notice my biggest problem of the day was approaching. He startled me by sitting down next to me with a thump. I looked up in surprise.

It was a boy. He was really pale and looked to be a few years younger than me. He had very long hair for a boy, and it was dark and thick and wild. His skin was pale, and he was dressed in an oversized shirt which almost completely covered the bike shorts underneath, high tops, and studded wrists cuffs. All black. But his eyes were the creepiest. The left one was a nondescript dark blue, but the right was in the creepy violet family like Lust's and Envy's. He looked like someone's emo vampire goth child.

"Can I help you?" I asked, noting that he was staring directly at me.

"You don't look so tough," was his response.

"Okay?" I said, unsure what this meant.

He grinned, pretty scarily actually. His teeth looked a bit too sharp to be normal. "You're that girl that took away Al," he said.

Warning bells rang in my head. I looked around, but no one seemed to notice this creepy kid. At least he couldn't use some crazy powers to hurt me without making a scene. "What do you want?" I asked him warily.

"We want you to pass along a message," the kid said.

Suddenly everything chilled around me. I thought it was my own nerves at first, but then I realized when it got progressively colder that this wasn't all in my mind. I whirled, trying to spot Lust, but she must have been hiding. The cold wrapped around me like a vise, making my limbs hurt. My fingers and ears were already going numb.

"Tell the Elrics that they have to surrender to us," the kid said, as if I were taking notes.

I tried to speak but couldn't. The coldness around me was taking its toll on my body. My skin was turning white, the tips of my fingers blue. I looked around beseechingly for help, but the crowd had thinned out, and no one paid me any mind. I remembered movies I had seen where the villain had hurt the hero while people in the big city paid no notice.

Why did this have to happen to me?

The kid leaned forward as if about to share an important secret. "Tell them it's from Wrath and Lust," he said in a low voice, grinning much too smugly.

Were there icicles in my hair? I didn't know. I so wished I had some kind of power to use, to kick Wrath's smarmy butt and Lust's hidden butt. But the only thing that had manifested from the Abnormal potion was the ravenous hunger. I was doomed.

There was a sudden explosion to my right. People screamed and scattered. In my peripheral vision I barely made out a display of fake plants that was now on fire. Distracted, Wrath turned. In that moment when his attention wavered, someone scooped me into their arms and whisked me away. Everything was moving around me in a blur. I couldn't make anything out. What I did notice, however, was the viselike coldness around me being dissolved by a blanket of heat. I reveled in it, feeling the sensations come back to my hands and feet. My arms and legs prickled like they had fallen asleep. It stung a bit, like it does when you take cold feet into a warm house, but I was soon back to a normal temperature.

All the whirling stopped, and I was set on my feet. I was in a whole different part of the mall now, nearly deserted. I turned to see who my rescuer was and blinked. "Mr. Roy," I said in surprise.

"Just Roy, kid," Roy Mustang said to me, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Feel better?"

I nodded, rubbing my wrist as the feeling came back into it. "So you warmed me up? You've got the power of...heating things?" I asked.

"Yep. And you looked like you could use it."

I shuddered. "That was Wrath back there. And Lust. They were threatening the Elrics," I said.

"I figured as much," Roy said with a sigh. "Come on. Better convene at Ed's house."

"Wait!" I said as he started for an exit, obviously expecting me to follow. "I can't just leave Roze here by herself."

He gave me an incredulous look, but shrugged. "Call her and tell her you'll be right back then. But this is important," he said.

I opened my tote to get my cell phone and remembered that Marta was supposed to be in there. Had she felt the cold too? I flipped a couple of items aside, wondering if she was hiding. Near the bottom of the bag, Marta lay unconscious.

"Marta!" I exclaimed, quickly pulling her out. She was cold all over. "Oh no, are you all right? Can you hear me?"

She lay motionless on my palm.

Roy came back over and examined her with his eyes. "Hmm," he said.

"Fix her! Heat her up!" I commanded, holding her out to him.

Roy touched Marta's head with a finger. "All that cold would probably kill a smaller body," he commented.

"Don't say that," I said fiercely.

Marta's skin regained its rosy complexion. The coldness on her body vanished. She took a couple of coughing breaths, and her eyes fluttered. "What the hell?" she gasped.

"Lust attacked us," I said.

"We'll catch up later. Let's get to the Elrics'," Roy said firmly, like an authority figure.

"I need to call Roze," I said, reaching with my other hand into my tote.

"On the way," Roy said, grasping my arm and towing me along. Marta weakly climbed up onto my shoulder, and I patted her back with a finger. "Knew it'd be an adventure hanging out with you," she said, still getting her breath back.

"You don't have to talk, Marta," I told her. "Go ahead and recover."

Marta scowled, but she did fall quiet. I pulled out my cellphone just as it began to ring. The display showed Roze's name. I quickly flipped it open and put it to my ear. "Roze?"

"_Winry, where are you? There was this crazy accident outside the bathroom. Some stuff caught on fire. I looked for you, but_—"

"Yeah, I'm, uh, going to...the hospital!" I said, quickly improvising. "I, er, got burned."

Roze gasped. "_Are you okay? Where are you, I'll meet you._"

"No, no, I'm fine! I ran into someone I know, and he's taking me there. I'll be all right, Roze," I told her quickly.

"_You're sure_?" Roze said, sounding concerned.

"Uh-huh. You go on home. I'll see you there, okay?"

"_Okay. Call me with an update_."

"Sure." I closed my phone and dropped it back in my tote. By this time, we had made it outside.

"You need to work on your lying skills, now that you've become a part of the Abnormalities," Roy commented bluntly.

I glared at him. "Oh, take your dental fillings and shove it," I griped.

Roy paused for a bit, glancing at me, but then continued to walk. "So how'd you know I had dental fillings?" he asked, sounding casual.

I blinked, then scrunched my brow in confusion. How _had_ I known? I'd never examined the inside of his mouth. It was almost like I could tell, like some people can tell when others have on veneers or contacts. "I don't know," I said, with a shrug.

"The vial," Marta piped up.

My breath whooshed out of me. "Really? You think this is the ability?" I asked her, realizing that it could make sense.

"Maybe, dunno." Marta still seemed tired. I patted her back again.

"Something else to discuss when we get to the Elrics," Roy said as he stopped by a black car. He opened the passenger door for me.

* * *

Dun-dun-duuuuun! Is Winry's ability manifesting that quickly? Will Wrath Lust attack her again? Will the fake plants ever recover?!

Find out next time!


	8. The Target

Hello, all! I'm kind of excited now, because we're finally getting into the thick of the plot. Behold, Winry's power looms on the horizon! And hopefully I get more questions and guesses and stuff. Now!

Thanks to **Synne's Cat, Synneofthesun, D3athRav3n, UnbornHope, Orange Singer, Bar-Ohki, Took-Baggins, Wandering Hitokiri, Asj Johnson, **and **tiggeranddash **for reviewing. It was a lot this time, hooray! Can I just say that **Asj Johnson **is the ultimate awesome? I go to check my e-mail and filled it filled with PMs that make me go, "YAY!" Obviously I can't properly respond to all the questions without writing about 7 pages worth of answers and spoiling.

But! I can help with my FAQs. According to the terms of our world, Ed's legally blind. When you're legally blind you can't drive cars or junk like that. BUT, it is possible to still be able to see in good light. When the sun goes down, or light's not bright enough, legally blind people become completely blind. So Ed can still see during the day or in well-lit rooms. But there is an Abnormal element in it also, which shall be revealed later.

Winry does not have the power of dentist-sensing. Or fillings-sensing. Or telepathy, psycho-analysis, etc. etc.. What she DOES have will have to remain a mystery until The Reveal. But it'll be good, promise.

Okay, I've rambled enough. Here's the next chapter, yes?

_

* * *

_

_"You need to work on your lying skills, now that you've become a part of the Abnormalities," Roy commented bluntly._

_I glared at him. "Oh, take your dental fillings and shove it," I griped._

_Roy paused for a bit, glancing at me, but then continued to walk. "So how'd you know I had dental fillings?" he asked, sounding casual._

_I blinked, then scrunched my brow in confusion. How had I known? I'd never examined the inside of his mouth. It was almost like I could tell, like some people can tell when others have on veneers or contacts. "I don't know," I said, with a shrug._

_"The vial," Marta piped up._

_My breath whooshed out of me. "Really? You think this is the ability?" I asked her, realizing that it could make sense._

_"Maybe, dunno." Marta still seemed tired. I patted her back again._

_"Something else to discuss when we get to the Elrics," Roy said as he stopped by a black car. He opened the passenger door for me._

**

* * *

**

**8: The Target**

Marta was feeling better by the time we were on the way to Edward and Alphonse's, and was able to gripe about what had happened. I figured she was allowed some grump time, considering her life had just been in danger. My mind was focused on more confusing things.

"Mr. Roy, I mean, Roy ?"

"Yes?" he asked as he changed lanes.

"Ummm…how'd you find out?"

Roy knew what I was talking about. The Vial Incident. "Ed filed a repot. It's standard procedure, so we can track and hopefully control all unintentional Abnormalities," he explained.

I stiffened. He made it sound like I was some item on a list or something. "This happens a lot?" I asked, my curiosity overtaking my irritation.

"More than we'd like," Roy said.

"Is that how you got your power?"

"Nope. I inherited it from my mother."

"Wow." I scratched the side of my head, mystified. Marta, apparently done cussing out our latest enemy, dropped from my shoulder to my leg, settling herself on my lap. "Obnoxious little punk," she grumbled, massaging her arm, which I supposed was still hurting.

My mind conjured up the image of the wild-haired, goth-looking kid with the mismatched eyes. "Wrath," I said, mostly to myself.

"The kid?" Roy said, hearing me. He sighed. "Hopefully Ed will be able to tell us some things about that," he continued.

"Envy might know, since it's like a '7 Sins' theme or something," I pointed out helpfully.

"Maybe. Here, take note of this street sign." Roy suddenly pointed. I followed his finger with my eyes and saw the usual green rectangular signs pointing in opposite directions near the top of a metal pole. The sign facing us was a newer-looking green.

I read the street names aloud. "Royai and Edwin?"

"Yep."

"Why?" I asked as Roy turned onto Royai.

He nodded at the street sign again, and I glanced back at it—only to do a double take when a woman with dark dreadlocks just appeared in front of it. Like _appeared_, appeared. For the briefest of moments her skin seemed to have a strangely natural bluish hue, but in the time it took for me to blink, it had changed to a more human-looking pale pink. She started off purposefully in the direction of the library, looking like an entirely normal woman.

"What the…?" I gaped after her, watching until we had driven too far to keep her in sight.

"Like I said," Roy told me without further explanation.

I looked down at Marta to see if she could tell me what I had just seen, but she only gave me a shrug. So I would have to decipher Roy 's cryptic comments, or hope Edward would be able to tell me something, if I wanted answers.

* * *

In a few minutes, we had made it to Edward's house. I hoped Trisha was cooking again, because I was once again hungry. It felt like I hadn't eaten in days, as opposed to just half an hour ago.

Roy knocked on the door while I looked around the yard. Everything seemed like it had been before, but there was some sort of subtle change I just couldn't put my finger on. It was like something unknown was hovering at the edge of my peripheral vision, moving just enough that I couldn't get it in sight.

The door opened, and I turned to see Alphonse, dressed in a green shirt and jeans. He looked surprised to see us. "Mr. Mustang, Winry, Marta, hi!" he said, smiling in a welcoming manner. "What are you guys doing here?"

"A little complication," Roy said. "Can we come in?"

"Oh, of course!" Alphonse said, opening the door wider and backing in. I took off my shoes just inside the door and lined them up next to the others. Roy did so also, in a familiar way that made me think he'd visited the Elrics on many occasions.

I straightened up and turned to Alphonse just as Roy spoke. "Where's Ed and Trisha?"

"Mom's at work right now. Brother's at the library," Alphonse explained. He caught Roy 's gaze and frowned. "Why? Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Winry was—"

"I got attacked at the mall," I jumped in, not really wanting Roy to speak for me. "By Lust and some kid named Wrath."

At the name, Marta snorted.

Alphonse paled. "You were?" he said, sounding almost queasy.

I nodded. "They wanted me to, uh…warn you guys."

Alphonse reached into his pocket and pulled out a cellphone. "I'd better call Brother," he said, flipping it open. "Come on, let's go in the living room." He led the way, and Roy and I followed.

* * *

Not too soon after making the call, Edward had made it back to the house. Dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved gray shirt under a red tank top, he walked in, pushing his glasses up on his head as he did so. "Winry?" Edward demanded the moment he stormed in, brandishing his cane. Envy, wearing a stretchy mock turtleneck with sleeves that ended as fingerless gloves, black shorts, and boots, followed him silently.

"I'm here," I said, raising my hand like I was in class. The plate that had been full of sandwiches Alphonse had given me lay empty in my lap.

"Yeah, so calm down," Marta added from where she was perched on the arm of the sofa next to me.

Edward's expression changed to one of relief before he went and sat down beside his brother, across from Roy. I was surprised that it mattered to him so much, but figured it was the general regard for human life that most people have. "What happened?" he asked of me and Roy.

I explained the incident to him. Alphonse looked worried. Edward crossed his arms and listened grimly. Envy looked impassive, and bored. "And you didn't actually see Lust?" Edward asked me once I got to the part where Roy saved me.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "But Wrath talked like she was there. And I sure _felt_ that cold."

"What did Wrath look like?" Edward asked.

"Umm, he was kind of short, about your—"

I was pointing at Edward as I said it, and he suddenly twitched violently. Beside him, Alphonse waved his hands at me frantically, a panicked look on his face. Roy and Envy looked like they were trying to hold back laughter.

I was thrown. "Uhhh…maybe up…to here," I said carefully, holding the side of my hand against my shoulder. Edward seemed to relax a little, and Alphonse breathed a silent sigh of relief. Roy looked disappointed. "But anyway," I went on, "he was really pale, really long and wild black hair. One blue eye and one purple one." I pointed to my own eyes as I described.

Edward and Alphonse exchanged worried glances. "Well, now we know who they completed the set with," Edward grumbled.

"What're you gonna do?" Marta butted in. "What if those losers attack Winry again, huh?"

"Don't get all worked up," Edward snapped. "We've dealt with then before; we'll deal with them again." Behind him, Envy flinched, and I saw a flicker of anger flash through his eyes, but it was gone so fast I couldn't be sure I'd really seen it.

Roy sighed and rubbed his temples. "If we're doing the warfare thing again, you'll need to talk to Paninya about supplies. Now I've got to go."

"Thank you for saving Winry," Alphonse said politely.

"Anytime." Roy left with an over-the-shoulder wave to the rest of us.

I turned back to the brothers. "So...what are we going to do?" I asked.

"We're going to contact Paninya first," Edward said. "Roy's right; we'll need supplies. And maybe an ability accelerant for you."

I blinked. "What, and speed up the process for my power? But what if it's something useless, like—like—"

"Communicating with fruit," Marta piped up.

"We'll take the chance," Edward said.

"Should we tell Mom?" Alphonse asked.

For some reason I expected Edward to say no. Maybe because all the movies set in the big city depict the adults as being out of the loop. But he surprised me by saying, "Yeah, definitely. Mom will know just what we should do to handle—"

My phone rang. I dug it out of my tote and checked the viewscreen. "It's Roze," I said apologetically to them as I flipped it open and put it to my ear. "Yeah, Roze?"

"_Are you out of the hospital yet?_" Roze asked me, sounding a little frantic.

I blushed. I'd forgotten that. "Umm…yeah, and I'm on my way back," I lied again.

"_Winry, I don't know how to tell you this, but…_"

"What is it?" I said in alarm.

"_The—the complex was set on fire and now it's_—"

"_What_?!" I exclaimed, leaping out of my seat and startling everyone else. "Are you okay? Is Noa? What happened?" Even as I spoke I was half-running back into the hall. I heard Edward and Alphonse's footsteps following me soon after.

"_Noa's safe. Everyone got out, and there's only a few injuries. The fire department got here fast, but everyone's kind of shaken up,_" Roze told me. Her voice indicated she was shaken up as well.

"I'll be right there!" I said to her as I flung the front door open. Roy was just backing his car down the driveway. "Hold on!" I yelled at him, waving my free arm. He saw me and braked.

* * *

Five minutes later, Roy had driven me, Edward, Alphonse, Envy, and Marta (who Alphonse had kindly transported on his shoulder when I abruptly jumped up) back to Roze and Noa's townhouse complex.

Or what was left of it.

The complex was divided into three sections of townhouses. The one containing Roze's and Noa's had been utterly destroyed. A giant smoking pile of black wet _whatever_ was in its place. People stood around, disoriented, scared, confused. The fire trucks were still there, as were a couple of ambulances and squad cars.

I jumped out of Roy's car before he'd even come to a full stop. "Roze!" I called over the general noise of police radios, confused people talking and yelling and crying, and some weird low roar I couldn't place. "Noa!"

"Winry!"

I whirled to see my friend. Her yellow sundress was stained from chest to knees with soot, and there were a few smudges on her face. I didn't hesitate in running to her side and grabbing her in a hug.

"Are you okay?" I asked her worriedly.

Roze nodded. "I'm okay. Um…here." She handed me a large sack that was completely black and smelled smoky, but looked vaguely familiar. "I grabbed as much of your things as I could."

I was horrified. "Roze! You didn't have to save my stuff! You could've gotten hurt!"

"Noa said similar things," Roze said, with a little smile.

"Where is she?" I asked, looking around.

Roze pointed to where Noa stood. She was talking into a phone while a paramedic wrapped her head in bandages.

"Is she--?"

"She's okay. Got pushed into a wall by some people really eager to escape. It's just a little bump," Roze told me.

I breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to Roze. "Does anyone know how the fire started?"

"I think I heard one of the police officers mention arson. They're looking now. Some of the neighbors said that their walls just kind of…erupted into flame for no reason." Roze shuddered.

I patted her back. "I'm glad everyone got out safely."

"Me too."

Noa came over then, and she saw me. "Winry!" she said, a little surprised.

"I came right over when Roze called. Are you—"

"I'm all right," Noa said with a smile which soon faded. "I got a hold of Cain, Roze, and he'll take us in until we can make other arrangements. He's on his way up now."

"Oh, good," I said, glad they wouldn't be on the streets.

"What about Winry?" Roze asked.

Noa glanced at me and frowned sadly. "I'm worry, Winry, but he said he's only got room for the two of us. We'll rent a hotel room and stay here with you until you can—"

"No, no, you don't have to do that," I protested. "Go to Cain's, and I'll just call Grandma and let her know. I'll be fine."

"We wouldn't just leave you," Noa said.

"Noa? Roze?"

All three of us jumped. Alphonse was suddenly in our midst. "Sorry," he apologized sincerely, "but you don't have to worry about Winry. My mom can take her in."

I brightened. "Of course, that's a great idea!" I helpfully chimed in.

"Are you sure, Al?" Roze asked worriedly, and I had to remind myself that she already knew him.

Alphonse nodded.

Noa glanced at me. "Winry, are you certain?"

I nodded.

* * *

It took a few minutes, but eventually Noa and Roze agreed to hand custody of me over to Alphonse, to hand to his mother. I looked, but I didn't see Edward and Roy anywhere, and wondered why they were staying out of sight.

About an hour later, a white car pulled up. Apparently it was Cain, because Noa and Roze both hugged me. "Sorry the summer turned out like this," Roze said.

"Hey, I'll be fine," I said lightly. "Maybe next year."

Roze brightened. "Yeah, next year!"

I waved as the sisters climbed into the car. They waved back as the Cain guy drove away. I watched until they were out of sight, then turned to Alphonse. "Well, I guess I'd better give Grandma a call, see if I can reach her." It's definitely hard to get Grandma on the phone, which is why I write her letters whenever I go somewhere. And don't even start with e-mail. One word: No.

Alphonse shook his head, frowning. "I'm really sorry, Winry, but you can't go home yet."

"Huh? Why not?" I said, confused.

Alphonse motioned for me to follow, and we headed back to where Roy's car was parked. "Brother and the others are still looking around right now, but they believe that the fire was definitely set on purpose. And they think it was them coming after you."

"…What?" I said in disbelief. "They burned down Noa and Roze's home to get _me_?"

Alphonse nodded gravely. "If they're trying to hurt you, then your grandma would only be in danger if you went home."

I swallowed. Hard. This was definitely not what I had hoped for coming to the big city. "S-So…what do we do?" I asked, a little pathetically.

Alphonse smiled at me suddenly. "Don't worry, Winry. Brother and I will protect you. You can count on us."

"That's great, I just wish I didn't need protecting," I sighed.

"I know. We'll figure this out."

I hoped so. What was scary was that I had no idea why they were after me. What had I done, besides hang out with the Elrics a little? Or was that an offense punishable by death in Abnormal standards?

There were too many questions. What would my power be? Could I control it? Would these weird pale people keep coming after me? What would the outcome be?

Oh, and why was this happening to me??

* * *

DUNDUNDUN!!!!

Winry moves in with the Abnormals!!! Hilarity and other things ensue! Including…romance? Could it be? Hmm…who knows? See you next time!


	9. Here Comes The Power

Hi ho! We're back with another installment! And now for my favorite part, many thanks to **Synneofthesun, Asj Johnson, D3athrav3n, Bar-Ohki, Orange Singer, Little Patch of Heaven**, and **Phantom** **SunsSong** for reviewing. I'm so happy that some of my TSG reviewers came over!!

Now, let's see if I can answer some questions and junk, eh? Yeah, I'm only answering actual questions this time around, but I still love lengthy reviews and wild guesses! Woo!!

**Synne**: I wasn't really thinking that at first, but I'm a mild fan of RoyRiza, so who knows? But I probably won't have any other pairings besides them and EdWin, so the next streets might be crack pairings or something. And as to Ed's blindness...it's an important story element that will be revealed later, but I CAN say that he wasn't born blind.  
**D3ath**: Wrath's eyes contain his powers (which are currently a mystery) And Al will be turning into a cat the next time it's necessary (winkwink)  
**Little** **Patch** **of** **Heaven**: I don't think this'll have any EnWin, because I don't support the pairing. (when I say that I mean it's just one of the pairings I've never botherd to check out, so I don't know if I'd ever like it) And until you mentioned it, I didn't even see the Fruits Basket connection!! I HAVE been reading the manga lately, though...  
**Phantom**: Coincidence! And you'll find out...this chapter! Dundundun…

Okay, the questionnaire is done, so let's read on!

* * *

_Dear Grandma,_

_Please don't freak out, but Roze's townhouse burned down. It's a really long story. Apparently the fire was set by a group of Abnormals, the ones who kidnapped Al. They're targeting me now, for some reason. The only thing I can come up with is maybe they don't like me hanging around Ed and Al, and wanted to scare me off. Either way, I would have come home, but that might put you in danger. So I'm staying with the Elrics._

_Please don't worry about me. I promise I'm fine. My ability's going to manifest soon anyway, and maybe it'll be the power to wipe out my enemies with a snap of the fingers or something. Or the power to rewrite history. Whatever it is, I trust Ed and Al that we'll come out of this all right. I love you very much._

Yeah, right.

_Dear Grandma,_

_Please don't freak out, but Roze's townhouse burned down. I'm staying with a nice family she and Noa trust. Everything's fine, so don't worry about me. I'm still enjoying my summer, promise! I love you very much._

* * *

**9: Here Comes The Power**

I tore the first letter up and crumpled the pieces into a tiny ball, then folded the second letter into an envelope to mail later. Then, with a sigh, I rested my elbows on my pulled up knees and sighed, rubbing my temples.

"Hey, calm down," Marta said, hopping into the narrow space between my waist and lap. I was sitting on my new bed with my bare feet up, back against the wall. It smelled impersonal, like a guest room should. "Those dumb boys will settle this, no problem."

"You calling them dumb doesn't really reassure me," I said.

Marta shrugged. "Part of my personality."

I rested the back of my head against the wall. After Roze and Noa had left, Alphonse stayed with me at the car while Edward, Roy , Envy, and Marta investigated. They came back with a unanimous verdict: it was Abnormally set, and it was directed towards me. However, Roy had a different idea as to the why.

"I don't think they were trying to get rid of you," he said after we had all gotten back into his car and he started driving us back to the Elrics'. "I think it was another message. It was simply threatening."

"What if she had been there, though?" Edward had challenged him.

"It's possible they ensured she wasn't before they set the fire," Roy had said.

I had stayed silent as they debated over why a group of creepy people with creepy powers were trying to kill me. Alphonse had given me sympathetic and concerned looks, and Marta had sat on my shoulder and patted my cheek from time to time. I appreciated them trying to comfort me, but it's not every day you learn that there are powerful people after you, possibly trying to take your life.

Eventually, we had gotten back to the Elrics'—my new summer home—and Roy had dropped us off. By that time, Trisha was back, and she had listened to Edward and Alphonse's accounts of the incident with concern. She had given me a big hug, which _had_ made me feel a little better. "Of course you're welcome here, Winry. Don't worry, we'll protect you," she had said.

It made me miss my own mom.

A knock on the door interrupted my flashback. "Uh, come in?" I said.

The door opened, and it was Edward. "Hey," he said, squinting. He pulled his glasses off his head and put them on. I realized that I had the blinds closed, and it was kind of dark in the room. "Oh!" I said, jumping off the bed, dislodging Marta. I took three quick steps to the window and yanked on the cord, pulling the blinds up.

"Ow!" Marta complained from where she had fallen awkwardly onto the bed.

"Sorry, Marta!" I said.

Edward laughed a little. "It's okay, I could make out your general shape," he said.

I laughed nervously also, then went back to the bed. "So, what's up?" I asked, trying to sound like I didn't care about my life being in danger.

"How are you doing?" Edward asked, seeing right through me.

I sighed as Marta climbed back onto my leg. "I'm still alive, so that's always good. Just a little scared and nervous, I guess."

"That's kinda to be expected," Edward said with a smile. He pulled the swivel chair out from under the nearly bare desk and sat in it, facing me. "We're probably going to have a small war on our hands," he went on, "so I figured it would be necessary to give you this." He extended a corked vial with a bright blue liquid inside.

"What's that?" I asked.

"The ability accelerant. It's totally harmless. Al's used it," Edward told me.

"Oh." I accepted the vial and looked down at it. Marta stood up to get a better look at it also. "Do I just...drink it?"

Edward laughed. "Well, you don't shoot it up your ass," he said teasingly.

I blushed. "Right." I uncorked the vial, then took an experimental sniff. It smelled like sour milk. "It smells weird," I commented.

"Most of them do," Edward said with a shrug.

I sighed, sloshing the liquid around a bit.

"Oh, come on, drink it!" Marta urged.

"I am, I am," I said. I looked down at it again, then tipped back the vial and chugged down the liquid, trying not to taste it. Fortunately, it only tasted like liquid rice, if that makes any sense at all.

"How's it taste?" Marta asked.

"All right, I guess," I said, putting the cork back in the now empty vial and handing it back to Edward. "Now what?"

"Now we hope your ability's something that can protect you," Edward said.

"Right," I said.

"I'm sure it'll be awesome. Nothing like communicating with fruit." Marta looked worried, though, as if she wasn't sure it _would _be useful. I was worried too.

"You hungry? Mom's making lunch," Edward said.

"I'm starving," I replied. And it felt like I really was.

* * *

Lunch was as immense as I remembered it. And I was very grateful. I passed Alphonse and gave Edward a run for his money in the amount of food I put away. It was like my stomach had turned into a black hole. I just barely managed to save enough for Marta to eat off my plate. Trisha smilingly added round after round of food until the three of us were finally satisfied.

"Why does becoming Abnormal make you so hungry?" I wondered aloud as I finished my twentieth burger.

"For some reason, most of the Abnormal tonics and potions drastically affect a human's metabolism," Edward said as he ate the last of his sixth serving of fries. "It's possibly because an ability burns so much energy that the body has to work to get more, to keep you on the level you were before."

"And Abnormal substances are usually enhanced versions of normal things anyway," Alphonse said, picking up a pickle slice he had missed and eating it.

"So, will I always be…_this_ hungry?" I asked.

"No, fortunately. Your body's still adjusting. It should mellow down in a few weeks," Trisha assured me.

I heaved a big sigh. So I still had many, many days of ravenous hunger ahead of me. Great. I looked at Marta, who looked back at me and shrugged. "Well, at least you're living with a bunch of other hungry people," she said.

* * *

After lunch, the day was, very oddly, uneventful. I mostly got to watch TV with Alphonse, or talk about mundane things like my home life with Trisha. Since there was a group of 7-sins-themed Abnormals after us, I thought there'd be more battening down the hatches and battle plans. Instead, it was sort of like I was just hanging out at a friend's house for no good reason.

"Shouldn't there be more urgency going on?" I even asked Alphonse at one point.

He smiled at me. "I know it's probably pretty confusing, but there's some things we need to wait for before we start getting ready," he told me. "Until then, we don't have to worry about them as long as we're here in the house."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because this house is too strong for them."

That made little sense to me, but I had been having this weird feeling about the house ever since Roy brought me here. I decided to voice my odd sensations.

"Al, this may seem like an odd question, but...is there a lot of metal under the house?"

Alphonse looked surprised, but then recovered. "There is, actually," he said. "Maybe sensing metal is your ability."

"And that's all?" I said, disappointment in my voice. I had been hoping for something a little more offensive, like, oh, the ability to cough fire or something.

Alphonse heard the disappointment in my voice and gave me an even sunnier smile. "Don't worry, Winry. I'm sure we'll find plenty of great uses for your ability," he said. It was sweet of him to try and cheer me up.

"By the way, where's Ed?" I asked, continuing to talk even though the show we were watching had just come back on.

"Oh, he and Envy and Marta had to make a trip," Alphonse said.

"A trip? To where?" I asked.

"Actually...I don't really know myself," Alphonse told me, sounding sheepish. "Sometimes Brother goes places on the other side and doesn't tell me where they are. He says I don't need to worry about them."

My brows scrunched. That sounded odd. "Will he be back soon?" I asked.

"He should be."

Before I could ask anything else, Trisha came in with some food for us. I was very grateful, because I was hungry again.

* * *

It was weird how the day sort of flew by. Before I knew it, it was bedtime. Trisha let me use her shower and borrow a nightgown of hers, since Roze had only managed to snag a few of my day outfits out of the burning townhouse. It was a pink, ankle-length camisole and felt like it was pure silk, lined in pure lace. I'd never worn anything more extravaganet than an oversized T-shirt, and maybe pajama bottoms if it was cold enough. I felt like I should have a husband to show it off to.

"So...is the prepare-for-battle stuff going to start tomorrow?" I asked as I pulled the ponytail holder out of my hair.

Trisha smiled. A brush levitated off of her massive white vanity and over to me. "Hopefully it won't be as exciting as you're thinking," she said.

"Oh, I don't want excitement," I assured her, accepting the brush and running it through my hair. "It just seems like there should be something going on, if we're in danger."

"Life should be more like a movie?" Trisha said, smiling warmly.

I laughed, a little embarrassed that she realized what I was basing most of my big city assumptions on. "And some of the books I've read," I said.

"Exciting things are much more exciting when you don't have to be a part of them," Trisha told me. "That's what my husband used to say."

"You mean...um, what was his name? Honderheim?" I knew I had flubbed that and blushed.

"Hohenheim," Trisha corrected me, though still smiling so it didn't hurt. "Yes. He was full of wise sayings, when he wasn't running late or getting lost."

"Al said you and Ed think he's...y'know, gone," I said.

Trisha nodded. "I know Alphonse believes with all his heart that his father is still alive. Edward always tried to convince him otherwise. I didn't do much to disabuse him of the notion. It seemed cruel."

I glanced down at the floor upon hearing Edward's raised voice downstairs. At first I thought he was angry, but then I heard him and Alphonse break into laughter. "Do you think he'll keep on believing?" I asked her.

"I don't know. But I'm not willing to let the subject divide our family. We have to be strong in order to present a united front to our opponents," Trisha said.

"That makes sense." There was a pause, then I heard a barely audible voice and realized Envy must be speaking. He said something briefly, and then Alphonse and Edward laughed again, this time louder. I could even make out Marta laughing with them. "They really aren't worried about what's going on, are they?"

"They're confident in their ability to protect you," Trisha said, smiling fondly. There was a thump below, then more laughter. "Edward especially."

It did make me feel a little better that they felt that way. I smiled at Trisha.

* * *

_I was standing in the middle of a weird, bright voidish place. It was yellow all around, and I couldn't see anything. I was still in the fancy nightgown Trisha had offered me, and I felt the desire to find a jacket or something else to cover up with._

_Behind me, I heard a sniffling noise. I turned around to see what it was, and I was surprised to find a younger me, with chin-length hair wearing the blue dress with red flowers I'd liked so much as a little girl. I was crying and had my eyes covered._

_"What's the matter?" I asked._

_"M-Mommy...and Daddy," the younger me sniffled._

_I stiffened. This younger me looked about four. My parents had died when I was 8. "What about them?" I asked._

_"It got them...the octopus monster t-took them away," the younger me mumbled, breath hitching._

_"Octopus monster?" I said in confusion._

_Suddenly Envy appeared out of nowhere, dressed neck to toe in black. He scooped up my younger self. "Go!" he yelled at me. "Run now!"_

_"The octopus monster!" the younger me wailed._

_I had a feeling, like people do in movies, when they say something like "it's right behind me, isn't it?" I whirled and saw two tall, dark double doors. I would have to crane my head back too far to see the top. The doors were slowly opening outward, creaking slightly. I squinted and could see someone pushing the doors from the inside._

_I turned to ask Envy what it was about, but he was gone, and so was my younger self. I turned back to see the doors opening wider. The person opening them was Edward. He looked like he'd gotten in a fight. His clothes were ripped and dirty, and his hair was loose, draped over his shoulders and in his face. I rushed to help him. "Are you okay?" I asked._

_He lifted his head and looked at me, and I came to an instant stop, horrified. His eyes were gone. There was nothing there but black holes._

_As I stared, something behind him moved. Then all of a sudden, these grotesque black arms flew out from the doorway and lunged towards me._

I woke up with a shuddery start, my face mashed into the pillow. My back was sweaty. I had to work for a moment to control my breathing. That dream was the scariest I'd ever experienced in a while, and even though it was getting harder to remember clearly, like dreams usually are, the fear it had put in my was fresh in my mind.

Quietly, I laid there until I felt better, then pushed up on my elbows to fully wake up.

Of course, then I had no choice but to scream like I was being murdered.

I had remembered that I was now a guest at the Elrics' house. And I remembered—later, of course—that Alphonse had mentioned their being a good deal of metal below the house. What he didn't tell me was that the metal was several full-body suits of armor.

And for some reason, they were all in my guest room, leaning over my bed and staring at me.

"HELP!" I screamed, pushing myself as far away from them as I could. The bed was pushed up against a wall, though, so I couldn't quite get out of arms' reach. "HEEEEELP!" I screamed again.

_Is this an attack from those Abnormals? _I thought wildly, looking for some way to get past them and out the door. They filled the room, so I couldn't even get to the window.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" I screamed one more time.

I heard rather than saw the door get slammed open, because the suit of armor were so tall their little forehead horns nearly touched the ceiling. "Winry!" I heard Edward yell.

"Help me!" I cried pathetically from where I was isolated in the metal forest.

"What the _hell_…?" I heard Envy's voice say.

"Winry, are you okay?" Alphonse's voice said next, sounding worried.

"Al, what the hell are these doing in Winry's room?" Edward's voice demanded.

"Somebody do something!" I cried.

"Just hang on, Winry!" Ed's voice said.

The armor was still looking at me. It seemed like their heads had followed me when I moved away from them. "G-Get away from me!" I said to them futilely, pointing.

Then, shock of shocks, they did. The suits of armor all straightened up and backed a foot or so away from the bed, packing themselves impossibly tightly against the rest of the room.

I gaped, stunned into silence. There was silence at the door too. Then, "Winry?"

"Yes Edward?" I said, my voice filled with surprise.

"Try getting them to open a path to the door," Edward told me, sounding much less angry and much more contemplative.

"…O-Okay. Um, hey, you suits of armor, uh, open a path to the door," I said, feeling really silly.

No sooner had I spoken the words than the suits began to take action. Since they couldn't back away any further, the ones in the back started to crumple themselves up into small balls, which others then sat on top of. After a few moments, they had managed to compress themselves enough to clear a pathway straight to the bedroom door.

Edward and Alphonse stood there, dressed in red and blue pajamas, respectively. Envy's head was looking over Edward's observing the activity. I saw Trisha peering over Alphonse's head.

"Um...what's going on?" I asked, not yet willing to peel myself away from the wall.

Alphonse looked too shocked to answer. Edward had his glasses on, and was examining the suits of armor nearest to him. "I think this has something to do with your ability," he told me.

"I thought I could sense metal, not control suits of armor!" I cried. "And where'd these things come from anyway?!"

"This is the metal you were sensing under the house," Alphonse had recovered enough to tell me.

"Winry, go ahead and get dressed," Trisha told me. "We can discuss it more thoroughly over breakfast."

"But what about..._them_?" I asked, pointing at the armor.

"Send them back to the basement," Edward suggested.

"Okay...uh, you guys go back to the basement," I told the armor.

Immeditely after I spoke, they complied, tromping out of the room as the Elrics scrambled out of their way. They got off of each other and uncurled from their balls and just sort of filed out single file, each one ducking through the doorway.

I was so stunned that I was still holding onto the wall. Edward came over and placed a hand on my shoulder. "It's okay," he said. "They left. You can let go of the wall."

"Oh—right." I blushed a little at my silliness, and let my arms relax. Edward didn't take his hand of my shoulder, and gazed into my eyes like he was trying to gauge my sanity. I blinked back, realizing for the first time that his eyes looked really awesome and pretty, even behind the glasses.

And then I remembered I was still in the moderately sexy nightgown, with the dipping cami neck, and I yanked up the covers with one arm and shoved him away with the other.

"Let me get dressed!" I shouted, now fully red in the face from embarrassment.

Edward looked pretty embarrassed himself.

* * *

BUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  
So, anyone have any guesses on what Winry's dream means, or what her power's really about? I'd love to hear them.  
See you next time!!


	10. Answers And Questions

When Writer's Block bites, it bites. Yes, this fic was on hold this long because my plot bunny died a horrific death and I had to go and buy a new one. I'm so sorry for making everyone have to wait for so long! But at least I'm back now, so the story can continue! Woo!

Many thanks to **Orange**** Singer, Synneofthesun, UnbornHope, D3athrav3n, Bar-Ohki, Asj Johnson, n a g a s h i . n o . k u r o, Took-Baggins, tiggeranddash, **and **Little Patch of Heaven **for reviewing! And if you're still around, thank you for being patient with me! Now, I'll stop wasting time and get to the chapter, eh?

* * *

_Previously..._

_"Um...what's going on?" I asked, not yet willing to peel myself away from the wall._

_Alphonse looked too shocked to answer. Edward had his glasses on, and was examining the suits of armor nearest to him. "I think this has something to do with your ability," he told me._

_"I thought I could sense metal, not control suits of armor!" I cried. "And where'd these things come from anyway?!"_

_"This is the metal you were sensing under the house," Alphonse had recovered enough to tell me._

_"Winry, go ahead and get dressed," Trisha told me. "We can discuss it more thoroughly over breakfast."_

_"But what about...them?" I asked, pointing at the armor._

_"Send them back to the basement," Edward suggested._

_"Okay...uh, you guys go back to the basement," I told the armor._

_Immediately after I spoke, they complied, tromping out of the room as the Elrics scrambled out of their way. They got off of each other and uncurled from their balls and just sort of filed out single file, each one ducking through the doorway._

* * *

**10: Answers And Questions**

I mechanically dressed in a blue shirt and jeans, my mind still whirling. What with my creepy dream, followed immediately by the morning's events, I was understandably confused and a little scared. But I managed to keep myself from flying into hysterics by thinking carefully of how glad I was that nothing _else _crazy had happened to me.

I brushed my hair and pulled it into its usual high ponytail. Then I opened my ring box, which didn't actually have rings in it. Instead it was a carrying case for my six earrings. I put them all on, trying to pretend this was a normal morning and nothing unusual had happened.

Yeah, right.

I heaved a sigh through my nose and tried to keep an open mind about this. At least now I had an idea of what I was capable of. And it wasn't anything useless like fruit communication. But what else could I control? And could I use this power well?

My door opened, and I whirled. But no one was there. I blinked in confusion.

"Down here, dummy," a familiar voice said.

I looked down and saw Marta. "So, I hear something finally showed up. Congrats. They tell you what it is yet?" she asked.

"Uh, not yet. We're gonna talk about it over breakfast," I told her.

Marta nodded. "Cool. I'm starving."

* * *

As usual, we _all _ate like we were starving. Trisha seemed to be the master of preparing mass amounts of food. I'm not sure how many eggs, pancakes, and pieces of bacon I put away, but it was at least four times as much as I would have eaten even at my hungriest.

Finally, when we started to wind down, I hesitantly broached the subject. "So...um, about my powers..."

"I was thinking about that," Edward said. He propped his elbows on the table and rested his chin on top of his hands. "You talked about sensing metal, and then you easily controlled the suits. So it's obvious your power is about metal. The question is, to what extent?"

"What, like can I tell a skyscraper to move it or whatever?" I asked.

He nodded. "What size, what type, what distance, things like that need to be tested."

"You're not running tests on me," I said flatly. The idea of "tests" brought images to mind of people being locked in cages, injected with things, made to run on treadmills while hooked up to monitoring machines. Like in the movies.

Seeing the look in my eyes, Trisha was quick to reassure me. "Nothing experimental, of course, Winry. We'd never do that. We'd just see what different types of metals you could manipulate, and to what extent your powers go."

I relaxed. "Hold on a second," Marta butted in from where she was sitting crosslegged near my plate. "What about those creeps who attacked us at the mall? What if they find out Winry's got powers now?"

"They won't," Edward said firmly.

As if on cue, I glanced at Envy, who had been leaning against the wall behind Edward's chair. His arms were crossed, and he looked angry. I wondered what affiliation he had with that creepy Lust and Wrath. Whatever it was, his name and appearance fit in with their little theme.

The dirty dishes started floating towards the sink. "In the meantime," Trisha said, "why don't you test your powers for yourself, Winry, and see what you can do?"

"You mean, around the house?" I said in disbelief. "What if I break something?"

"We'll fix it," Edward said matter-of-factly.

I stared at him.

"We can't let you practice where someone can see you," Alphonse explained. "We all honed our powers in the house. If we broke something, we called in a specialist to fix it."

"But...won't that cost money?"

"An Abnormal specialist," Marta said, as if that explained everything.

I still wasn't comfortable with the idea of manipulating metal inside the house. Something could go seriously wrong.

* * *

"Check it out, Marta! It's actually _dancing_! Isn't that cool?!"

I changed my mind.

"Great, now make it do something useful!" Marta said from her perch on the staircase railing.

I paused, and the metal folding chair paused in its hopping jig. "Useful? Like what?" I asked her.

"See if you can stand on it and _fly_! Like an air surfboard!" Marta suggested.

My brows scrunched. "Like those futuristic hoverboard things in the movies?"

"Uh...yeah! Like those!"

"I don't know..." I gazed at the chair. That sounded like it would be a lot of fun, but I wasn't too sure in my ability. Sure, I could make the chair dance, but could it support my weight? And then could I steer it safely?

"Oh, come on! Live a little!" Marta told me.

"Easy for you to say!" I shot back. But the idea was stuck in my mind now. I walked over to the chair, which was still standing upright, waiting for my orders.

"Hey, you think you can order it around without saying anything? In your mind, I mean," Marta said from the railing.

"Really? Maybe?" I frowned at the chair. _Hey, uh, if you can hear me, lie down so I can stand on you._

The chair immediately fell on its side, like someone had been holding it up and then let it go. I blinked at it.

"Well, go on," Marta urged.

"But how can it just lift up in the air? It doesn't have propulsion systems or anything like that," I pointed out.

"Hey! I'm trying to live vicariously through you! Now just do it!" Marta ordered.

"All right, all right! Sheesh!" I stepped onto the folding chair, planting my feet so I had good balance. "Now, um—"

"No, no, in your _mind_, remember?" Marta said, pointing at her own head.

"Oh. Right." _Okay, um, float up in the air?_

Nothing happened. I looked down at the chair.

"What are you waiting for?" Marta asked me.

"I already tried. It's not working. It needs something to propel it, like I told you," I said to her, shifting my weight to step off.

Marta looked irritated. "Just try it again."

I sighed, but stayed on the chair and decided to try again to please her. _Up in the air, chair._

Before I could blink, I shot up into the air. My stomach plunged, and I let out a scream. I heard Marta cry, "Whoa!" but I was too busy reeling back and forth in fear to reply. My arms windmilled wildly as I rose higher into the air. The ceiling in the living room was pretty high, but my head was going to hit it soon. Before that happened, though, I tipped forward and tumbled off the chair.

I expected to hit the carpet, but I landed on my back on something hard and uneven. I blinked, and then twisted onto my side to see that I was lying on the chair, which was still floating about a foot off the ground.

"Oh my _God_!" Marta shrieked. I looked over at her questioningly as my stomach slowly found its place again.

Marta had stood up and was staring. "Winry, when you fell off the chair...it—it swooped down and _caught _you! Did you tell it to do that?"

"No, I was too busy fearing for my neck," I said.

"That's so amazing! It's like the chair knew you were in trouble!" Marta's surprise had raised her voice's volume level substantially, and that coupled with my scream must have been what brought Alphonse and Trisha running into the room.

"What's going on?" Alphonse cried. Then he and his mother stopped short when they saw me lying on a levitating folding chair, my legs dangling in mid-air.

"Look! Look what Winry can do!" Marta yelled, still loud.

Trisha and Alphonse seemed equally stunned.

_Let me down, _I thought at the chair. It dropped immediately, dropping me with it. The chair and I landed on the carpet with a muffled thump. "Ow!" I yelled.

"Are you okay?" Alphonse asked worriedly, coming over to my side and helping me sit up.

"Yeah, just bruises," I said, wincing as my back started to throb.

"Winry, that was amazing!" Marta was still yelling.

"It really was," Trisha said at a much lower volume.

I stood up and rubbed my back. "Marta suggested it," I said.

"Can you do it again?" Alphonse asked. "Something like that might definitely come in handy. Right Mom?"

Trisha nodded.

"Sure, I guess." I stood on the chair again, made sure I was positioned for proper balance, and then braced myself. _Up in the air—but slower this time!_

The chair jerked up into the air again, and I had to bend forward and grab it to keep from falling over. "How is that slower?" I exclaimed out loud.

"That is so _amazing_!" Marta yelled.

* * *

For the rest of the afternoon, and well into the evening, I practiced hovering on the folding chair. Alphonse and Marta supervised, with Marta shouting out more and more dangerous stunts for me to try, and Alphonse giving me tips on how to control it better and keep myself safe. By dinner I had mastered the art of turning in a circle.

"Dinnertime," Trisha said, coming into the living room. "How's it going, Winry?"

"I think I'm getting better!" I said as I turned around and around.

"Watch out or you'll get dizzy," Alphonse cautioned.

Trisha turned to him. "Alphonse, did Edward say when he and Envy would be back?"

Alphonse's brow creased, as if he was thinking hard. "Sometime in the early evening, I think. Brother said he'd at least be back by dinner."

"That's what I thought also. Edward's not one to miss a meal unless he absolutely has to," Trisha mused.

I had the chair settle on the ground, and then stepped off. "Where did he say he was going?"

"To pick up some supplies. More potions like the ones you've seen. Brother always has a good supply of them," Alphonse told me.

"Well, should we call him or something?" I asked.

"I tried his cellphone, but I didn't get an answer," Trisha said. She looked a little worried.

"Maybe they're just running late or something," I suggested.

"Maybe." The Elrics didn't looked convinced, though. "I think I'll try him again," Trisha said, exiting the room.

Alphonse exchanged a glance with me. "I'm sure Brother's okay," he said, but he sounded worried.

* * *

Dinner came and went. We all had to eat, because everyone was practically starving, but I could practically see the anxiety rolling off of Trisha and Alphonse. Trisha tried Edward's phone five more times, all unsuccessfully.

The evening turned into night. Alphonse got on his own cellphone and started to talk to who I figured out was Paninya. Trisha periodically called Edward's phone. I halfheartedly practiced moving along slowly on my makeshift surfboard while Marta sat on the edge, looking thrilled with the ride.

"Did he check in after that?...I was hoping you were going to say 'yes'. What was his last report?" Alphonse held the phone between his shoulder and ear as he wrote down what Paninya said onto a pocket-sized notebook. "Okay...okay...okay...wait, approaching where? Spell that, please...D-U-B-L-I-T-H? Okay. Now, did he...okay...okay...and that was it?" Alphonse listened, then sighed. "All right. Thanks, Paninya." He closed the phone.

I settled the chair on the ground, which caused Marta to give a disappointed sigh. "Any good news?" I asked Alphonse. Trisha hung up the phone as if on cue, turning to us.

"Not really. Paninya said that Brother checked in for the last time at 2:20 this afternoon. According to her, this is what his last report said." He held his notebook up to read from it. "'Got package, taking "scenic route" home, approaching Dublith to check out suspicious activity.' And then that was it."

"So it's possible the 'suspicious activity' is what's delaying him," Trisha commented. I noticed that she didn't say Edward was missing.

"I told Brother he should be more specific when he checked in. He never listens to me," Alphonse sighed.

"You think he's okay?" I asked worriedly, wondering if this had something to do with Lust and Wrath.

"I'm sure he's all right. Edward is very capable. And Envy makes a good protector for him," Trisha said.

"Protector?" I repeated, a confused look on my face. "Is that why Envy hangs around all the time? I thought he just lived here because he likes to."

"He doesn't mind living here _now_," Alphonse said, then hesitated.

I glanced at him. "What do you mean?"

"Um..." Alphonse looked uncomfortable. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have brought it up. Brother doesn't like to talk about it."

"I thought you were letting me in on all the Abnormal stuff," I said, exasperation in my voice.

"It has to do with when Hohenheim left us," Trisha said.

Dead silence. I suddenly realized I had way overstepped my bounds. My face flushed as I saw their unhappy expressions. "Oh. I—I'm so sorry, I didn't mean—"

"Don't worry about it at all, Winry, you couldn't have known," Alphonse said, smiling immediately.

"But still, it was rude. I'm sorry," I apologized.

"Already forgotten," Trisha told me, her smile returning as well.

The phone rang. We all glanced at it. "I'd better get that," Trisha said. She walked over to the phone mounted on the wall and lifted the receiver, putting it to her ear. "Hello?"

Alphonse, Marta and I watched as she frowned. "Hello? Who is this?" She listened, her face growing pale. "Who are you?"

Immediately Alphonse dashed from the room. I wanted to follow him, but my eyes were fixed on Trisha's face, as it slowly grew more upset. I barely noticed when Alphonse returned, but his tugging on my arm made me turn. He pulled me into the kitchen and hit the speaker button on the cordless extension in his hand.

Trisha's voice echoed to us from two places: the living room and on the phone. "_Just tell me what you want,_" she said.

"_It's very simple,_" a rather pleasant-sounding man's voice said. "_We want the Stone. Deliver it to us, and your son won't suffer the same fate as his father._"

Alphonse's face immediately drained of all color.

"_I can't give that to you,_" Trisha said, sounding as upset as Alphonse looked.

"_Then I'm afraid you've condemned your son. I'll be certain to tell him his mother didn't value his life enough to part with something she doesn't even use._" Then there was a click, and I realized the guy had hung up.

Alphonse hit the Talk button to hang up the phone, looking pale and shaky. For a moment I feared he would pass out. "Al, what's he talking about? What stone?" I asked, confused, but also understanding that this meant Ed was in serious danger.

There was a sound behind me, and I turned to see that Trisha had entered the room. Her face matched Alphonse's in paleness and misery. She moved to the table and sat down heavily. Alphonse seemed to snap out of it then, and he rushed to her side and hugged her.

Marta, who was perched on my shoulder, had nothing to add. She looked as stunned as I felt.

"M-Ms. Trisha, that guy on the phone—he's a kidnapper?" I said.

Trisha nodded. "And he wants the Stone." She put her face in her hands.

"What stone?" I asked, not understanding.

The phone rang again. They both jumped. Trisha looked like she really didn't want to answer the phone, her hands tightening into fists, which was a gesture that didn't suit her gentle personality. I picked the extension up off the table before Alphonse could and hit the Talk button, holding it to my ear. "Hello?"

"_May I speak to Trisha, please?_" an unfamiliar woman's voice said.

"It's for you," I said to Trisha.

"Is it him?" she asked, sounding fearful.

I shook my head. "It's a woman."

Trisha accepted the phone, but instead of putting it to her ear, she hit the speaker button. "Trisha speaking," she said.

"_From the tone of your voice, I'd guess you just got a call,_" the woman said.

"Yes. They have Edward, and they want the Stone from us now," Trisha said.

"_I knew that's what they would ask for. Somehow the Homunculi are predictable like that,_" the woman said, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

Who were the Homunculi? I wondered, but didn't voice my question yet, as the woman was continuing to talk. "_Don't make any plans to hand it over to them yet. They'll call your bluff for a while by threatening Edward, but they're cowards. I'll be visiting in the morning._" Then the woman hung up.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, who was that and who are the Homunculi?" I asked.

"The Homunculi are a group of seven—well six now—Abnormals," Alphonse explained to me, having regained most of his composure. "You already know two of them, Lust and Wrath. The rest are—"

"Wait, let me guess. Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Pride," I said.

Alphonse nodded. That opened the door to a lot of new questions. Obviously Envy completed the set, so that meant he was a part of their group, or had been at least, since he was on the Elrics' side as Ed's "protector". Why had he switched sides?

"They're after something we have called the Philosopher's Stone. It's an Abnormal substance, and it's very powerful. Its destructive capabilities are intense. We've been keeping it safe from the Homunculi and other power-hungry groups like them for years," Alphonse told me.

"So all this time _you _people had the Stone, I can't believe it!" Marta finally spoke up. "I've heard so many urban legends about that thing I could write a damn book!"

"Wait, but if they have Ed now, then..." My head was starting to hurt from these new developments. "I mean, how did they get him? You don't think that Envy was the one who—"

"He couldn't," Alphonse interrupted firmly. "Even if Envy wanted to betray Brother to the Homunculi, he wouldn't dare."

I rubbed my forehead. Trisha could see my growing frustration and reached out to pat the shoulder Marta wasn't sitting on. "It isn't fair to speak so cryptically around you when it's our fault you're in this with us," she said.

"But, Mom—" Alphonse protested.

"I know, dear, Edward wouldn't want us talking about it. But Edward isn't here, and if Winry is going to help us she deserves to know and understand what we're talking about. It's a very long story," Trisha said.

"Then I'll make us something to eat," Alphonse said in a way that made me think it was an automatic response to that phrase. He got up and went to the fridge.

Realizing I was still standing up, I sat down at the table across from Trisha. Marta climbed down off my shoulder and sat crosslegged on the table.

"Of course, you know Edward is legally blind," Trisha said.

I nodded, wondering what that had to do with anything.

"He wasn't born that way. His vision was fine. He didn't have any health problems that would cause deteriorating eyesight. He should have lived his entire life with normal vision."

Trisha paused, and I realized she was waiting for me to get something. So I took a guess. "Then...does that mean his, um, condition was Abnormally caused?"

"Yes," Trisha said.

"Damn," Marta commented.

Alphonse set a glass of water next to his mother's elbow. She thanked him and he went back to the fridge. "It was six years ago," she went on, slipping into storyteller mode. "Hohenheim and I had just sent Alphonse off to summer camp. Edward had been upset because he hadn't gotten to go."

"How come?" I asked, slipping into listener-with-questions mode.

"Hohenheim and I had decided that Edward should finally learn the truth. We were going to show him the other side and begin his Abnormal training. Edward was disbelieving at first, but when he was shown proof he got excited, realizing that this was the secret in our lives. He was eager to learn everything, so we took him on a routine mission to fix a malfunctioning portal. It should have been perfectly safe, a way to ease him into the world.

"It turned into a fight for survival. A terrible, horrible day I will never forget for as long as I lived."

I was paying rapt attention now.

* * *

Yep, I did it. Now you have to wait again! But don't worry, the plot bunny hasn't failed me and the next update will be much, much sooner than the last!

* * *


	11. Unbreakable Bond

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* * *

Many thanks to **Orange**** Singer, Took-Baggins, Bar-Ohki, D3athrav3n, **and **Asj Johnson **for reviewing!

**Baggins: **You'll see this chapter!  
**D3ath: **That is a mystery yet to be revealed. Hopefully Envy won't be too tight-lipped about it.  
**Asj: **Aha! You noticed! And, er...I certainly HOPE your vision problems aren't caused by Abnormalities!

Chapter time!

* * *

_"Of course, you know Edward is legally blind," Trisha said._

_I nodded, wondering what that had to do with anything._

_"He wasn't born that way. His vision was fine. He didn't have any health problems that would cause deteriorating eyesight. He should have lived his entire life with normal vision."_

_Trisha paused, and I realized she was waiting for me to get something. So I took a guess. "Then...does that mean his, um, condition was Abnormally caused?"_

_"Yes," Trisha said._

_"Damn," Marta commented._

_Alphonse set a glass of water next to his mother's elbow. She thanked him and he went back to the fridge. "It was six years ago," she went on, slipping into storyteller mode. "Hohenheim and I had just sent Alphonse off to summer camp. Edward had been upset because he hadn't gotten to go."_

_"How come?" I asked, slipping into listener-with-questions mode._

_"Hohenheim and I had decided that Edward should finally learn the truth. We were going to show him the other side and begin his Abnormal training. Edward was disbelieving at first, but when he was shown proof he got excited, realizing that this was the secret in our lives. He was eager to learn everything, so we took him on a routine mission to fix a malfunctioning portal. It should have been perfectly safe, a way to ease him into the world._

_"It turned into a fight for survival. A terrible, horrible day I will never forget for as long as I lived."_

* * *

**11: Unbreakable Bond**

_Six years earlier_

"Okay, so then what's this do?" Edward asked, pointing up.

"This—" Hohenheim reached over his son's head to touch the long beaded cord "—is a signaling device. It's used to open the portal to the correct place so you come out where you want to."

"How does it work?"

"You touch your nose and close your eyes, then spin around three times and say, 'Magic cord before my face, take me to the perfect place!' and then—"

"Dad!" Edward scolded.

Hohenheim smiled, ruffling his son's hair. "Nothing gets by you, son."

"Well that just sounds dumb," Edward replied, reaching up to fix the hair his father had mussed.

"Do I want to know what you two are doing over here?" Trisha said, walking over. She sounded stern, but she was smiling, so they knew she wasn't really mad at them. "We're supposed to be working, dear."

"Work's no fun if you don't have fun," Hohenheim said with his usual logic.

"I just wanna know what everything is and how it all works," Edward explained.

"Even we don't know all that," Trisha told him.

"But you know more than me! So how about this? Is this the actual portal?"

Trisha looked over to where Edward had pointed and nodded. The "portal" was actually a long, tall pole that looked like a regular streetlight, except where the light would have been was a square box about the size of a human head, which looked like a cross between rubber and steel, about twenty feet off the ground. The fifteen-foot cord dangled from the bottom.

"It doesn't look broken."

"It's an internal linking malfunction," Hohenheim told him as Trisha started to examine the pole.

Edward looked confused. "That's just fancy talk for it doesn't send you to the right place," Hohenheim clarified.

"And it's our current job to figure out the problem so it sends others where they want to go again," Trisha added.

"So...it's some maintenance job?" Edward sounded disappointed that there wasn't anything particularly exciting to it.

"Believe me, son, it's the boring jobs like these that keep this side of Central running smoothly," Hohenheim told him.

"I guess...but you guys said you were peacekeepers, or whatever that term was you used. Don't you ever get to fight crime or something?" Edward asked.

"Someone's been reading too many comic books," Trisha commented as a panel that blended in with the pole flipped open at her telekinetic touch.

"Once we get it running again, we'll use it to go home, and you'll see how important it is to keep these things in working order," Hohenheim said.

Edward did look appeased at the prospect of using the portal once it was fixed. He stood next to Trisha as she pointed out how the portal worked on the inside.

Suddenly, Hohenheim spoke, and his usual cheerful goofball tone was gone. "Trisha," he said.

The one word was enough to make her pause, one arm instinctively reaching out to circle Edward's shoulders. "What is it?" he asked, confused. His senses weren't Abnormally enhanced like his parents'.

"Where?" she asked.

"Near. Getting closer. At least two," he answered.

"Is there time to move Edward?"

"No. They banked on that."

"Downwind?"

"Yes."

Their odd, fragmented conversation confused Edward even more, but he understood that something serious was going on and kept quiet.

"Edward," Trisha said, "you need to stay close to me until I tell you to run, all right?"

Edward swallowed. "Okay," he said, sounding a little nervous.

Trisha smiled down at him. "Don't worry, we're going to be all right."

Hohenheim turned then, moving to put himself between Trisha and Edward and whatever was approaching. Edward held onto his mother's arm, scared at what might happen but also curious.

The area they were in was a reasonably large clearing in a circle of tall brick buildings. From the alleyway between two of the buildings, a figure emerged. It was a pale-skinned woman, contrasted with her dark hair and equally dark dress. Her whole appearance screamed evil.

"Well, well, if it isn't Hohenheim of Light and his family," the woman said in a smooth voice.

"And here I thought vampires didn't come out in the sunlight," Hohenheim said.

"You've insulted me," the woman said, pretending to be hurt. "If I wore pink would you call me a fairy?"

Hohenheim smiled. "Depends on the shade of pink. Now if you'll excuse us, my family and I will be going now."

"But you just got here." The air around the Elrics seemed to chill suddenly. Hohenheim glowered at the woman, and she smiled blandly. "Certainly you can stay and talk for a moment?"

"We don't want any trouble, Lust," Trisha spoke up.

"But _I _want trouble." The air got colder. Edward's teeth started to chatter. Trisha's arms tightened around him protectively.

"You asked for it," Hohenheim said with a world-weary sigh.

Suddenly, the wall near Lust exploded, obscuring her in a cloud of dust and debris. The cold air vanished. Trisha released Edward and pushed him in the opposite direction. "Run, now!" she said. "Get back to the station we came from!"

Edward stumbled, but caught himself and started to run. He glanced back fearfully and saw Lust dashing out of the cloud, unhurt. The ground near her feet exploded again, but she dodged it and extended her hand towards Hohenheim and Trisha. Her nails extended, suddenly, quickly, like deadly lances. Trisha stepped in front of her husband, and the dangerous nails were suddenly diverted into the ground.

A thud made Edward whip his head around, and he skidded to a stop as he saw his path was blocked. A tall figure, as pale as Lust, with very long dark green hair held back with a headband, loomed over him with a smirk. "Where you going, kid?" the figure said.

Edward sucked in a breath and stepped backward fearfully. Two more explosions sounded behind him, but he didn't dare take his eyes off this new threat. "Wh-Who are you?" he asked.

"Me? An old friend of your parents'. Call me Envy."

"I-I d-don't want any trouble," Edward said, repeating what he'd heard his mother say. "Please just—let me go."

"Afraid I can't do that." Envy reached forward with amazing speed suddenly and grabbed Edward's arm. Edward, seeing that he couldn't talk his way out of this, proceeded to set his mind on getting away and kicked Envy in the leg. Envy didn't even seem fazed.

The ground between them exploded suddenly. Edward was knocked backwards and felt Envy's grip release his arm. "Edward!" Trisha yelled. A strange force suddenly wrapped itself around Edward's middle and pulled him safely out of the resulting cloud. He felt his mother's arms circle around him and latched onto her. "Are you all right?" Trisha asked worriedly.

"I'm okay!" Edward told her.

Hohenheim was in front of them again, now facing Envy. Trisha turned, keeping Edward between herself and her husband, to face Lust, who was on their other side.

"You know what we want," Lust said, her hands on her hips.

"Hand it over and we'll go away," Envy seconded.

"You know we won't do that," Hohenheim said gravely.

"Would you really condemn yourself and your family so easily?" Lust said with a cold smile. "Sooner or later we'll get our hands on the Stone. Either we'll have it and you're all alive and healthy, or we'll have it and you're not. What will your choice be?"

The ground around them exploded. Edward, though blinded by the dust and debris, felt his mother's hands pulling him in a direction, so he held onto her and followed, stumbling over a few things that felt like rocks. "You fools!" he heard Lust yell angrily, and the atmosphere grew colder again.

"Wrath, now!" Envy's voice yelled.

Edward kept following his mother, holding a hand over his mouth to keep from coughing. Suddenly she cried, "Oh!" and her hands yanked away from Edward.

"Mom!" Edward exclaimed, reaching to find her. His grasping hand found nothing. "Mom!"

"Let them go!" Hohenheim's voice shouted.

"We told you what your options were, and you chose to ignore them," Lust's voice said smugly.

Something gritty wrapped around Edward's feet, tripping him in mid-run. He fell heavily on his knees and elbows, scraping them on the ground. "Mom! Dad!" he cried.

There were more explosions behind him, then some rather evil-sounding laughter. "You brought this on yourself!" Envy's voice said.

"Give us the Stone and maybe they'll live," Lust's voice said.

Edward didn't hear Hohenheim reply, but a nearby scream made him freeze, a chill running down his spine. It sounded like his mother.

"Trisha!" Hohenheim's anguished voice cried.

"Your son will be next," Lust's voice said.

Someone's hands grabbed onto Edward's arms. The hands were smaller than Trisha's, and really warm. Edward tried to pull his arms free, but the grip was too strong for him. He tried to see through the fog, but could only make out the shape of a face surrounded by wild black hair.

"One last time, old man, give us the Philosopher's Stone!" Envy's voice demanded.

Another explosion shook the ground beneath Edward. He managed to twist his arms free and yanked his feet out of whatever held them. The figure that had grabbed onto him reached out again, and Edward tackled them. They both landed on the ground heavily, the figure's breath being shoved out with a painful-sounding "Oof!"

"Run!" Hohenheim's voice shouted.

There was an electric crackle, and a flash of light from behind Edward. He jumped up and whirled towards it. "Dad!"

"Get out of--!" Hohenheim's voice was cut off by a loud crackling and rumbling, and the ground shook so violently that Edward was knocked off his feet again. He heard his mother moan in pain somewhere near him.

* * *

Trisha paused in the story, putting her face in her hands again. I glanced over at Alphonse and saw that he was still standing in front of the fridge with the door open. I saw the side of his face glisten and realized he was crying.

"Was...that when...?" I ventured hesitantly.

"I was in too much pain," Trisha said, letting her hands settle back on the table. "Wrath has the ability to meld with and manipulate matter. He had done something to my insides that left me immobile in agony. Then he opened the ground, which swallowed my husband whole. He buried him alive."

I gasped. Even Marta was shocked into silence.

"I only know this because Edward told me. The next parts of the story are from him."

* * *

Edward was able to raise his head, even as the ground shook under him like an earthquake. The cloud was getting clearer, and he could see Envy and Lust now. He saw his father also, trying to stand. His glasses were gone, and blood was running down the side of his face.

"Da--!"

The ground wasn't shaking for no good reason, however. A final earsplitting crack tore through the air, and the ground beneath Hohenheim heaved abruptly. Hohenheim stumbled, and it opened underneath him. He fell through and was gone in an instant.

Suddenly the shaking stopped. The crack closed and smoothed, as if nothing had happened there. Edward realized that the ground had eaten his dad, and his fists clenched. He suddenly felt angry, angrier than he ever had before. He didn't know why these people were attacking his family, or what this Stone thing they kept saying they wanted, but he was tired of being scared of them!

Envy was the closest. He was holding up some liquid corked in a vial, examining it. "Hey, I think that this—"

He wasn't able to finish his sentence, because Edward tackled him. Edward had gone to football camp four times, and the only way he had survived being mauled during games was to become a proficient tackler. And he threw all of his strength behind the one that knocked himself and Envy down.

The surprise attack caused Envy to drop the vial he had been holding. It shattered on the ground. The second its contents touched air, they exploded. The spontaneous combustion engulfed Edward and Envy.

* * *

"...What was in the vial?" I asked.

"An experiment of Hohenheim's," Trisha answered. "I'm still not precisely sure what every ingredient was, but one of them was a bonding agent that conjoins and intersperses any significant liquids. It's used to properly mix Abnormal potions and such. There was also an exploding agent that ignites from contact with any sort of liquid: water, sweat, tears..."

Trisha looked upset as she told me this. "Then was that how...you know..." I didn't finish, but pointed at my eyes.

"Yes."

* * *

The first thing Edward heard upon returning to consciousness were several very angry voices. It sounded like an argument. One of the voices, the loudest, was speaking very quickly, and it sounded like, swearing a lot also. His body, he noticed, was aching all over, and his eyes were burning so badly he didn't dare open them.

"How could you be so careless?" the second voice said.

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH!" the first voice yelled again.

"What are we going to do? That agent is irreversible! You're _stuck _with him!" the first voice yelled.

"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT?! DAMMIT TO HELL!" the second voice yelled.

"What will we tell Pride?" the third voice yelled.

The rest of their argument was lost to Edward as he lost consciousness again.

When he woke up the next time, the pain in his eyes was what got his attention. The rest of his body hurt, but his eyes felt like pure bleach had been poured in them. He weakly raised his hand to cover his eyes.

Through the pain, Edward could feel the vibrations in the ground from someone walking around nearby. It felt like they were stomping, actually.

It took Edward a while to realize that though his eyes hurt the most, the pain in the rest of his body wasn't so minor after all. He felt burning and stinging in a lot of places, and soreness as if he had bruises. His chest was the only thing that didn't hurt.

In fact, he couldn't feel it at all.

"...Dammit...ow...oh, hell..." the voice that had been screaming and cursing before was mumbling. Edward felt tears squeezing past his closed eyelids and running over his nose and dripping into his hair, but they didn't alleviate the pain in his eyes at all.

Then he felt someone shake him. That made his body hurt more, and he wanted to tell them to stop, but he couldn't seem to get his mouth to work.

"Hey. Hey! Wake up!" the voice snapped at him. It sounded out of breath. Edward still couldn't get his mouth to answer.

"Damn, he must be dying. Look, you little punk, you are _not _going to die, you hear me? If you die, I die, and I'll kill you myself first before I let you die. Dammit, where's a stupid doctor when you need one?"

"My house..."

Edward brightened inside when he heard his mother's voice, though it was weak and strained. "What did you say?" the voice near him said.

"My house..." Trisha grunted in pain as she got herself into a sitting position. Her body was still feeling the residual effects of Wrath's attack on her, and every movement seemed to irritate the injuries. "Get him to my house," she said, wincing at the resulting pain of movement.

* * *

"So, Envy carried us both back here. I had just gotten a shipment of general healing potions from Paninya, so I was able to save Edward from dying, and consequently Envy. Unfortunately, the damage to his eyes was impossible to completely reverse for some reason, so he didn't end up blind, but his eyesight became very poor."

"But...I don't understand," I said. "How would Ed's dying make Envy die?"

"Hmm. How to describe it right...Marta, maybe you can help. Have you ever heard of a blood bond?"

Marta tilted her head. "Yeah, I've read about that."

"What's a blood bond?" I asked, even more confused.

Marta twisted around to face me. "It's like this. You know all the legends about vampires and dragons and junk like that, right? Well, there's a few legends we Abnormals have also. There's one we've got about how, way back in the day, humans used to use a technique known as a blood bond to keep vampires from killing them all. They'd capture a vampire, and mix its blood with the blood of a random human's. That connected them on a physical level, so that if one of them died, the other'd immediately keel over too. Doing that was supposed to keep vampires from killing humans, because then they risked losing one of their own, or even killing themselves."

"Oh." I nodded. I kind of got it.

"Well, that's something like what Edward and Envy have," Trisha told me. "The bonding agent connected them physically and Abnormally. The agent is split into two parts—one part in Edward, one in Envy, fused with the Abnormalities in their systems. It's designed so if one part of it is damaged or dies, the other parts react in kind, damaging or destroying any and everything they're bonded with. Since Edward already had a high level of Abnormal substances in his system, and Envy _is _an Abnormal, the bonding agent is connected to everything in their bodies—nervous system, blood vessels, brain function—everything."

I was able to connect the dots now. "So...if one of them dies, the bonding agent shuts down everything in the other one's body, which kills them."

Trisha nodded.

"But I still don't see why Envy didn't just, like, kidnap Ed and lock him up somewhere. Why did he decide to switch sides and help you guys?" I asked.

"Actually, I don't know that myself. You would have to ask him, if he would tell you," Trisha said.

"What if he's playing a spy or something?" Marta asked.

"It's possible, but not likely. He seems to be genuine friends with Edward."

I was surprised at that. I wondered why Envy had become friends with Ed, or why he hadn't tried to just escape in the first place.

"Well, thank you for telling me," I said. It had definitely cleared up a few mysteries for me. Unfortunately, now there were more questions I didn't have answers to. "So now what do we do about Edward? Are we gonna go look for him?"

"Tonight we'll prepare, and tomorrow we'll set out," Trisha said firmly.

"And the lady on the phone?"

"She's an old friend of Mr. Mustang's," Alphonse said suddenly, sitting down at the table with a platter full of plastic-wrapped sandwich triangles. I'd almost forgotten he existed, I'd been so wrapped up in the story. It occurred to me that while all of this had been going on, Alphonse had been merrily at summer camp. What had coming home been like? His dad gone, his brother half-blind, and some weird guy suddenly living there.

"She used to be a war strategist," Trisha told me. "Then she retired after she turned 25."

"She _retired _at 25?" I said in amazement.

"Officially she did, but she still does different jobs," Alphonse said. "And she's very skilled."

"Is she an Abnormal?" I asked.

Trisha shook her head. "She inherited Abnormal abilities, however, so she's very skilled with weaponry. She'll be here tomorrow morning to help us save Edward, and Envy if they've caught him as well."

I nodded, reaching for a sandwich. "So what's our game plan going to be?" Marta asked, waiting for me to unwrap the sandwich so she could steal a piece.

Trisha looked at Alphonse and nodded. Alphonse nodded back, then turned to us all. "Here's what we're going to do," he began.

* * *

Rescue mission time! Anyone who guesses who the lady on the phone was gets...a cookie!

Well, see you next time, eh?


End file.
